


The raven of Serkonos

by laicka03



Category: Dishonored (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-29 06:39:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 34,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1002162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laicka03/pseuds/laicka03
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if there had been a cure for the plague all along but Corvo decided that he had different plans for the city of Dunwall, would things had been really  different or would they just turn up as twisted and dark as they finish?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The two men were looking at each other, simply staring in silence. The younger was waiting the reply of the old one, whom seemed to be thinking carefully in what had just been proposed to him. The young man started looking around the room, he wondered how long had it been since the last time he had been in that room. The last times he had been in that room he had never sat on one of the chairs that were made of mahogany wood. He had always stood either behind one of them or by the door, but this time being sent as an emissary, gave him some advantages and he was placidly sitting in front of the desk waiting patiently. He looked through one of the windows that were at one side of the room, he could easily see how the wind moved the top part of the foliage of the trees. He turned around and looked at the other direction, just to find a white fireplace made completely of smooth white marble, the fire on it was dying and a fade gloss was coming from it. Soon enough it died away, making the moonlight that came from the windows the only light in the whole room.

 

“So?” asked the young man. “What’s your answer Duke?”

 

The Duke remained thinking in the proposal; he had both elbows against his desk and had his face rested on his hands. He raised his grey eyes and met those dark brown eyes of the younger man that were looking at him with a cold and piercing stare. How many times he had seen that look, wondered the Duke, of course not on this man, but on the Commander of the Grand Guard. But what could he had expected after all they were father and son. The Duke returned to the moment when he saw how the younger man tapped his fingers against the desk that was in between them. The Duke leaned against his chair and then said.

 

“Well Lord Protector, that’s… that’s an interesting proposition that you gave me…”

 

“So would you accept it or not?” asked Corvo looking straight at the man’s eyes.

 

“You know, at this moment I could hold you in a prison and label you traitor. For what you are asking me is quite the contrary of what the Empress sent you to do. ‘Deny Dunwall the cure of the rat plague…’ that is something cocky. If we were in Morley I would had accepted right away, but we are Serkonos.”

 

“An island that decided to subdued to Gristol, not because it was willing to form part of the Empire but because it had already too much internal bloodshed at the time of the Gristolian expansion, and couldn’t afford a war.”

 

“Well Master Attano that was in part fault of your ancestors…”

 

Corvo smirked at him, “Oh yes, the Attano family that comes from a long line of assassins and mercenaries that were forced to become the Grand Guard, because they were becoming far too dangerous and were the only ones to survive the great purge of the Iron fist King of Serkonos.”

 

“Won’t deny that, but there is a reason why my family had been ruling Serkonos for so long, Master Attano,” said the Duke with a smile. “Now let’s return to the main point. What you are asking me to do is too risky, and maybe I won’t want to do it. Think about it from my point of view, if I gave you the cure for the rat plague. Serkonos would be the savior of the Empire and we would be on the Empress favor. But if I don’t, what is the catch for me and my island?”

 

“Well first of all Duke, do you really think that Dunwall would appreciate what you would do for them? How long had it been since the last time you spend some time with any of the nobility of the wretched city? It would be quite the contrary they would be mad at you, not just because you didn’t deliver the cure before someone asked you, but because being part of the Great Empire it would had been your obligation to save them from the beginning. They are a bunch of arrogant idiots who believe themselves to be better than anyone else. Also probably the Spymaster would say that you were holding back the cure so you could appear as a hero when it would be needed the most, of course we both knew that is a lie. But let’s say you decided to give me the cure and indeed I deliver it, how long does your Grace think that the nobility would forget what Serkonos had done for them? Before your lordship could receive a ‘thank you’ letter they would had already forgot about it. ”

 

“That might be the nobility but what about the Empress? I think she would be in our debt for a long time.”

 

Corvo chuckled softly, “Jessamine?” he looked at the other man’s eyes, the Duke rose an eyebrow when he heard with what familiarity the man referred to the Empress. “Truly she would, yet she can’t force the Parliament to her will half of the times, and they are a bunch of arrogant bastards. Let them suffer a bit more, let them fall to their knees and crawl for help. They deserved it.”

 

“And don’t you think she would be surprised that suddenly Serkonos found a cure and send it afterwards? Wouldn’t your Spymaster wonder what happen?”

 

“If everything goes accord to what I have in mind, well, Burrows won’t be the Spymaster for too long. I’m sure Lord Resnik had already told about Burrows being the one responsible for importing the rat plague, hasn’t he?”

 

“Yes, and how do you know?”

 

“Duke, who you think told Resnik about it, Burrows thinks he covers up all his nasty business very well, but being part of the Grand Guard of Serkonos makes you able to find any small clue no matter how well they think they hid them, after all some of the people you send us to kill were trickier to find, but we always find them, no matter what,” said Corvo with cynic smile upon his face. “It isn’t difficult to find what you are looking after, if the man who tries to hide it had this compulsion of being extremely methodical.”

 

“Then tell me master, why hasn’t he been removed if you already know about this? Haven’t the Empress known about it as well?” said the Duke as he leaned against one of his hands.

 

“Well I can’t exactly come rushing into her room holding papers of that man, saying he is the culprit of the rat plague, can I? If I would had done that, probably he would say that I’m just trying to get rid of him and that I’m a spy of Serkonos as he had always suspected it.”

 

“And aren’t you?” said the Duke while Corvo smiled back.

 

“I wasn’t when I started, I have to admit. But after living there for the last sixteen years and that people still think that I’m trash and not worthy of my position, why should I care about that city and its people? Why not care about the only place that had never labeled me as a merchant or a whore? Why not get rid of those that are a nuisance.”

 

“And how do you know he will be removed soon enough?”

 

“Well one just needs to seed a small idea on Jessamine’s head and let it grow, yet I have to admit that this time it wasn’t just my own idea of having the Spymaster investigate the rat plague. It seemed that she thinks that the rat plague could had been imported by a foreign power, wondered what she would do when she finds out that her loyal Spymaster was behind all this, I guess I will have to tell her that I told her so and if I play well my card we can get an ally in that position, wouldn’t you like that one of children be Spymaster, Duke? It wouldn’t be that difficult to manipulate her in not trusting the men of Burrows. She will be heart broke, I guess I will have to comfort her,” he said with a bit of lustful look on his eyes.

 

“Comfort her?”

 

“A man has to do what a man has to do,” he smiled.

 

“So the rumors are true, Attano.”

 

“I have never denied them neither her. So what is the surprise Duke?”

 

“I wonder what your father and Lord Resnik would say about it,” said the Duke with a smile while Corvo frowned when he heard the mentioning of his father.

 

“Probably the ambassador would say that I had learned how to press the correct buttons of the Empress, while my father… I can’t really care less.”

 

“Still, Corvo, how could she not be suspicious that we suddenly had the cure? After all maybe she wouldn’t be so trustworthy after what is coming from Burrows.”

 

“Well I will deliver her the letter that says that Serkonos, Tyvia and Morley are planning to blockade the city of Dunwall and once we are in private,” Corvo looked at the man, who smirked at him. “I would tell her that the Duke of Serkonos remembered something about a disease that was similar to the rat plague of an old Serkonan text, which wouldn’t be a lie. And that, your Grace is looking for it and once the text had been translated from old Serkonan and a cure had been made you will send it. Of course I would send your Grace a letter to let you know when. With fewer nobles in the Parliament it would be easier to manipulate it to the favor of Serkonos. So you decided Duke, either give me the cure right away and save hundreds of lives and be forgotten soon enough, or let them rot a bit more but get far more benefit out of it.”

 

“You are a crafty bastard Attano,” he said. “You know that? Just like your father, though is good that he had never used that to his advantage. But I won’t deny I would love to see those bastard noblemen suffer, so I guess we have a deal.”

 

Corvo smiled back at the Duke of Serkonos as he extended his hand to close the deal, the Duke took the young man’s hand in his.

 

“Let this gesture be a sign of the blood we share,” said the Duke.

 

“For we are children of Serkonos,” answered back Corvo.

 

“From the day we were born.”

 

“Till the end of our days,” said Corvo and smiled in a cruel way.

 

-0-0-0-

 

Corvo took a deep breath and enjoyed the clean air of the open sea. Soon enough they would be reaching the city of Dunwall. A part of him didn’t want to return at all to the city, not only because he hated that city but because of its awful stench that it had lately. He had to admit that he had never learned to love a city so cold like Dunwall and the fact that most of the inhabits of the city believed that he shouldn’t be holding the position of Royal Protector never helped him, more than once he had heard not only high born but low born saying that the Lord Protector should be someone worthy, someone that really deserve the position. That he had been appointed out of pity. Of course at the begging he had tried to ignored them, he had thought that maybe Dunwall could become his new home, that he would learn to love the city, even though the first six months he had hated everyone in the world as he had felt that Serkonos had been disposing of him as he was merely a tool and the aristocrats and officers of Dunwall didn’t make him feel any better. Of course he had thought things would change once he and Jessamine had started to treat each other more closely, but nothing really changed. People kept being rude and impolite to him. He thought that maybe he could learn to love the city since it was Jessamine birthplace, and he loved her, but it didn’t matter how much he tried. Every time he ended up hating it more, so he had manage to see Jessamine as separate being of the city, as someone that was just there, but not really being part of the hateful city. After Emily was born he saw both of them as separate entities from the city and his hate toward the bothersome city remain over the years.

 

He had to admit to himself that he had been partially pleased to hear the disgrace that had fallen upon the city. Not that he enjoys the death of the people, but he couldn’t care less about them. But when the first noblemen had fallen to the illness he hadn’t been able to hide his joy, of course he had told Jessamine that he was very sorry about it. But it was until that city had fallen into chaos that they, the noblemen of the Parliament, had believed that it would be wise to seek aid outside. As if any of the other islands would do something for Dunwall, he knew pretty well that all the nobility of the rest of the Empire hated Dunwall nobility, that wasn’t a secret at all and probably were already enjoying the fact that the city was rotting.

 

But it hadn’t turned out that bad the situation of the rat plague; it had its bright sides, of course not all the people could see them, which was as shame. One of them from Corvo’s point of view was that Jessamine and he had begun to sleep together more often than before. She had asked him to go to her bedroom far more often after the first three months of the plague than any other time. She had told him that it makes her feel safer when she was in his arms and that she want him to exhausted her so she wouldn’t think about the plague during her sleeps, a thing that he had done gladly more than once. He knew that with the news he was bringing she would be devastated and that would mean a long night of love making. He smiled at the thought of that. After all he had been away from the two months and he did miss her as much as he did miss Emily. He wondered how they could be. Would they be alright? He only hoped so.

 

Though he had to admit that he would had preferred to reach Dunwall by nightfall rather than daylight, it would had been more easier for him to play his cards when Jessamine and he would be alone in her chambers than when there would be other people around. He had thought that he could simply tell Emily about his voyage as night story and then proceed to see her mother and press the right buttons once they would be alone. He wondered if she had already asked Burrows to make the investigation and what that man would have to say about it or if had already been brought to light what he already knew. Would Burrows try to deny it? Or make a petty excuse for it? Either ways the days of the man as a Spymaster were counted.

 

“We will finally reach Kingsparrow Island and be home soon enough, isn’t that good, Lord Corvo?” asked Geoff Curnow making Corvo return to the present moment.

 

“Yes, Captain. I’m sure you will be happy to be back at the city you love so much, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, and I will see my niece again, I hope that she is alright, but before anything we most deliver the news to the Empress. Is such a shame that none of the island had the cure for the rat plague,” said Curnow with sadness in his voice.

 

“Yes, such a shame,” said Corvo coldly. “Would you be returning right away to the City Watch?”

 

“Yes, I’m sure some of the men need to be put back on the right track, most of them believe that since the city is falling apart they can do as it pleased them. Still I’m sure that that isn’t really important, right now is that you gave the Empress the answer of the other islands, I’m sure is eager to meet you, Lord Corvo.”

 

“As I’m, I hope that she and Emily are alright,” said Corvo sincerely.

 

“I’m sure young Lady Emily will be alright, Corvo, I’m sure she is also eager to see you back and received the lovely doll that you brought her.”

 

Corvo chuckled, “That’s for her birthday, a month from now. I will give her a simple bracelet right now, or she will go wild trying to find a present among my things,” he said smiling.

 

“She is a very special to you, right? Just like my niece to me,” Curnow said smiling.

 

Corvo simply nodded and then looked ahead the small light house that was in Kingsparrows Island was starting to be visible now, just half an hour of journey ahead and they would soon reach Dunwall Tower.

 

“You know Captain Curnow, if your niece ever needs a job as a tutor… I’m sure that the Empress would be more than glad to give her an opportunity. After all you had done a great service for the Empire,” said Corvo.

 

“You, you really think so, Lord Corvo? I mean I could tell her, if the family she had been working for had fall sick with the plague, she could get a better place to work in, though that didn’t sound good at all…” said Curnow a bit concerned.

 

Corvo laughed, making the other man looking at him with surprise. “I’m sorry, is that it sounded funny, don’t take it in a bad way, is just… to get a job, she would need her last masters to be dead by the plague? That sounds weird… Still I will tell the Empress, you are a good man Curnow and if what you said about your niece is true, then she must be a fine woman.”

 

“Thank you Lord Protector,” said Curnow nodding softly. “Well I will go and see that everything is ready for when we disembark,” he said and left Corvo.

 

Corvo eyed him and then turned to look at the city of Dunwall, a soft nasty smell had started to be present. Corvo wondered vaguely if there could be other persons like Curnow in the city, after all he was a good man, but then he remembered an old Morley saying about people of Dunwall ‘a good apple doesn’t make it up for a basket full of rotten ones’. Corvo just looked ahead and began thinking again in what he would be saying to Jessamine he needed it to be perfect and precise. He couldn’t permit himself to have any mistakes, no he couldn’t, if he wanted for things to go his way, if he wanted to get rid of Burrows. He would also need to deal later with Campbell but the man of faith didn’t worry him too much, he might lead the Overseers, but if Burrows would be proved that he was the one importing the rat plague. Corvo was pretty sure that Campbell would soon abandon him, the High Overseer wasn’t exactly known to be the most loyal man in the whole Empire, and less since he thought of himself almost as an equal to the Emperor. Yet Corvo knew that he needed to deal with the man sooner or later, maybe the High Oracle could replace the man, after all she was a woman devoted to the island of Serkonos and a close advisor to the Duke. Corvo wondered if the Duke had already told any of his advisors, meaning Lord Resnik, the High Oracle Anke Noboa, Mr. Duval, head of the merchants of Serkonos and his father, the Commander of the Grand Guard, Master Attano, of what he, Corvo, was planning to do.

 

 If everything would come as he expected Serkonos would rise above Gristol. Corvo wondered if he could persuade Jessamine to move the Capital of the Empire out of that damned city. But then he guessed that the Duke wouldn’t like to be remove of ruling his island, but at least they could had a bigger influence on the matter of state if everything went as he wanted. But if things didn’t go the way he expected… he didn’t even want to think about it, he knew he was playing a very dangerous game in which he could lose his head if he did something wrong, or get exile at least, not to mention to put Serkonos in odds with Gristol, but at the current situation of the capital he knew that Dunwall nor Gristol would go on an open war against one of the other island since it could be a start of a civil war and the fragmentation of the whole Empire. That was something that at the present condition wouldn’t happen. And contrary to Burrows he had the precaution to do everything verbally and never get something written, and even though he would be found to be a ‘traitor’ Jessamine wouldn’t have him beheaded, after all he was the father to her daughter. He smiled at himself and thought that he was worrying too much, because what could possible go wrong?

 


	2. Chapter 2

Dunwall Tower had always been an impressive sight from the Wrenhaven River it stood tall and proud, all white with the light blue flags that had the Kaldwin’s crest on them, moving sometimes lazily and other times vigorously. Making a great contrast with the few constructions that were near it, mainly being Coldridge prison, that was a heavy building, of a dark gray color, that seemed like a monolith. While the tower it was a simple building that had been constructrd when the first King of Gristol had decided that it was time to expand his kingdom and had began conquering the other islands. The tower was a symbol of the Gristolan power and arrogance at the same time, yet it was impressive. Corvo knew that it had been adapting as the time had gone by, the water lock was a recent addition to the tower no more than a couple of decades old. It was added before the Emperor Euhorn Kaldwin was crowned, being the last thing that the previous dynasty did to the tower, of course in that time the water lock had functioned differently, without all the mechanic devices that had been added to it as the time had gone by. Corvo had to admit that he was grateful that the water lock had been modernized as he had never want to climb the hundred and fifty staircases that existed from the Wrenhaven River to the Tower.

 

Corvo watched it and saw how the sailors on the boat began to mobilize to get everything ready for his and Curnow disembark. Corvo couldn’t stopped thinking in the first time he had viewed the Tower. It had been almost nineteen years ago, he had been only eighteen and he had come with Lord Resnik to Lady Jessamine’s fifteen birthdays. It had been the first time he had to interact with Gristolan noblemen and ladies alongside with their guards and from that experience he had conclude that they were a bunch of idiots. It was also been the first time he had met Jessamine, without knowing who she was and finding her to be the only decent person in the whole city for the time he had stayed there, which had barely been more than three days. When he had seen the Tower for the first time he had thought it was something beautiful and that the city itself should be similar to it, but after spending sixteen years in it, he concluded that it was only a lie and that appearances could be misleading.

 

He walked into the boat and looked at Curnow and the other officer that were boarded it. The smaller boat soon started descending into the river. Corvo looked around the river, there were a couple of whaling ships that were going in and out of the city, most of them heading toward the slaughter houses. But they would be heading directly toward Dunwall Tower.

 

“Take us straight to Dunwall Tower, Lord Corvo has news for the Empress and we’ve come a long way,” said Curnow.

 

“A long way to bring bad news. The sailors say there’s a curse on us. Black magic,” said the officer.

 

Corvo looked at both men and crossed his arms, it wasn’t black magic, it was just Hiram Burrows’s nasty business, that was all. Of course it had gotten out of control and the city was paying for it, not that he really cared about it, after all, it was the result of a Gristolan nobleman doings. The city had what it deserved, by being rule by a bunch of arrogant and stupid people that didn’t take seriously their Empress. Although Corvo thought it was also partly her fault for not listening to him when he had give her some counsel and preferred those of the men who had lived in the city their whole life. Yet he couldn’t really blame Jessamine for that, after all they were supposed to be her counselors and she was supposed to listen to them.

 

“Superstition. For all we know there’s a cure for the plague by now,” said Curnow to what Corvo simply smiled, indeed there was a cure for the plague but it was hundreds of leagues away and will not be coming until Corvo say so, until he had decided, the city was in pieces and have suffered enough and could take advantage of it.

 

“Maybe, we live in strange times. Sending the Empress’ body guard away for a couple of months, that’s unusual,” said the officer. If Corvo wouldn’t have his own plotting and conspiracies running along, he would have to admit, that it had been unusual that he had been send away but as he had his own business to attend to, it had come in handy that he have been dispatch.

 

“Well, this was important. We need help with the rat plague,” said Curnow. They entered the waterlock and Curnow looked up. “Ho there! We’re going up.”

 

Corvo looked up and heard the engineers speaking. Then the alarm sounded and saw how the water level started raising. Once they had reached the top of the tower Curnow said to Corvo.

 

“The Empress will be waiting for your news, Corvo,” they walked in silence for a couple of seconds and then he added. “It was a pleasure to travel with you sir.”

 

“So was mine Captain,” responded Corvo with courtesy.

 

The guards at the entrance of the tower greeted him as they had always done, with empty courtesies , he simply looked at them and kept walking, as he was in the middle of the bridge Emily came rushing forward.

 

“Corvo! You’re back!” she said with genuine happiness.

 

“Emily,” Corvo said smiling at the girl. He stopped, knelt, and opened his arms to the girl, who ran toward him and hugged him. He hugged her tightly, how much he had missed her.

 

“Will you tell me about your trip? Please? Were there any whales?” she said as he looked at her and then kissed her on the cheek. He rose and carried her up. “Wait! Let’s play Hide and Seek first. I’ll cover my eyes and you hide,” he set her down and she continued. “You have time! Mother is busy talking to that nasty old Spymaster,” Corvo smiled to Emily, at least she did shared the same opinion that he had about Burrows, contrary to her mother’s that consider the man a friend, didn’t mattered how many times Corvo had told her that Burrows was a snake in disguise and was simply waiting to strike.

 

“Okay, let’s go,” he said smiling at her, she smiled back and began running, Corvo followed her close behind, ignoring the guard that told him that Jessamine was waiting for him. Not that he wouldn’t want to see Jessamine, but she was with Burrows and Corvo had little love for the man as the Spymaster had for him, and to tell the truth he would rather avoid a meeting with the man at all, especially since he needed to work on Jessamine.

 

They reached the lower part of Dunwall Tower, Emily looked at him eagerly and jumped a little.

 

“Let’s see if you’re still good at this. I’ll hide my eyes and count and at the end of the countdown I’ll try and find you. Okay I’m going to count to ten. Find a place to hide!” she ran toward the wall and started counting. Corvo looked around and walked behind a metal layer and crouched, and waited until Emily finished counting.

 

He heard her running around the place, he was good at hiding. He remembered that he had always been able to hide himself and Jessamine when they were younger and Emily hadn’t been born and didn’t want any interruptions while sharing a private moment. Still Corvo had always prefered to seek Emily it had always been more fun, since she always gave away her position by small giggles, since she had been a little girl. He had always liked to play with his daughter every time he had the opportunity.

 

“Okay, you win! We should go now, so mother can see you too,” said Emily and started jumping away, Corvo rose from behind his hiding place and walked toward her. “When you were gone, mother seemed very sad. I think she missed you.” Corvo caught up with her.

 

“Wait Emily,” he said, making the girl looked at him.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Tell me Emily, before we go and meet your mother, did she talk to Burrows about the plague?” he asked.

 

Emily looked at him, she frowned a little and then said. “Well yes, they seem to talk about it all the time, she seem very sad lately.”

 

“Did they talk about anything else?”

 

“No, that I remembered,” she said and then she looked at his face with a serious expression. “I have something to ask you. Did you bring me something Corvo, from your voyage?”

 

“Yes I brought you something,” he said smiling and taking out a small box out from his coat, he gave it to her. Emily began unwrapping the box and took out a small bracelet made of silver it had a thin chain and a big smooth opal of silver. “It’s supposed to bring you good luck and protect you from evil spirits or that is what the Serkonan woman told me,” he said as he put it on her wrist. She smiled at him and hugged him.

 

“Thank you Corvo!”

 

“Just one more question Emily, did your mother asked Burrows about how the investigation of the rat plague was going on?”

 

Emily looked at him, and moved her feet not looking at him. “I don’t remember…” she said in a low voice.

 

Corvo gave a sigh. “Emily if you want to be a strong ruler, you need to pay more attention to all the things that are going around you, you were the one to tell me that you would be my eyes and ears while I was away.” He messed up her hair. “Don’t worry we will have more time to improve your skills,” he said smiling at her.

 

She looked up and then said. “I think I remembered something, mother did talk to the Spymaster about something of that, but since I wasn’t supposed to be there I couldn’t hear the whole conversation, but after that, the Spymaster seem very nervous. And it had been just about two weeks ago that he had been asking mother to meet him at the gazebo, I think is strange but if we weren’t outside we wouldn’t had been able to see your ship,” she said smiling. “Come on, mother is surely waiting for you!”

 

Corvo looked at Emily, so Burrows had wanted to met Jessamine at the gazebo? That was indeed strange. The man didn’t like the outdoors, he had always thought that one could be attack by any enemy. Corvo knew that Burrows had always prefer the security of the indoors since he believed it was a more controllable environment and had told Jessamine that being inside kept unwanted eyes and ears away from delicates matters. Could it be that the snake be plotting something, Corvo wondered? He shook his head and laughed softly at the idea, he was starting to be paranoiac just like Burrows, who saw enemies in all the people. He kept walking after Emily and soon reached the small garden that was below the gazebo. Thaddeus Campbell took notice of him as soon as walked by.

 

“Welcome home, Lord Protector” he said raising his hand in salute.

 

Corvo turned to face him, he knew he couldn’t ignore him or at least not now that the other man had took notice of him, so he simply remain serious and walked toward him and Sokolov, who was painting a portrait of the High Overseer.

 

“Stop moving, Campbell. And you, Corvo, welcome back from where you’ve been,” said Sokolov without even looking back.

 

Corvo looked at Sokolov’s painting and believed he was doing a very generous painting of the man.

 

“They send him all around the Isles to beg for aid,” said Campbell.

 

“A waste of time. My elixir will banish the plague from this city,” said Sokolov, to what Corvo had to stop himself from making a sarcastic remark of how well it had worked so far. “Now keep still a moment, High Overseer Campbell.”

 

“I’m not sure that painting looks like Campbell,” Emily said.

 

“Neither do I,” whispered Corvo in her ear making Emily giggle a little.

 

“Did you saw my improvement to the water lock?” asked Sokolov.

 

“I’m not much of an engineer Sokolov,” said Corvo looking at the painting. “But the engineers seem to be having some problems with it, probably you will be called again to examine it,” Sokolov looked at him in disbelief but remained quiet.

 

 “It was a fool’s errand, Corvo. The plague comes from inside us. We must all strengthen our faith,” said Campbell, getting Corvo’s attention again

 

“Coming from inside? I thought it came from the rats, but I guess that what you are saying is that most men and women in the city are rats on the inside? No wonder why the nobles got it so quickly,” said Corvo, but Campbell didn’t answered back. Corvo laughed softly. “It was just a joke Thaddeus, but if you really believe that, well, that is your opinion, I really don’t think that most people would agree with you though. Or at least those that consider themselves innocents, while others that don’t even get it, they aren’t even innocents, but who I’m to judge?” said Corvo.

 

“If they got the plague they aren’t innocents Corvo, they must be in league with the Outsider and for that they got their wicked fate, but those that have come to us, they had never fallen ill with the plague. So say what you want but no fancy elixir, or foreigner will save us from the plague.” Sokolov looked at Campbell in a cold way, and Corvo simply raised an eyebrow.

 

“Tell me, High Overseer, how many rites have you performed lately? Have you or your Overseer been able to cure anyone with the powers of the Seven Strictures?” asked Corvo in a cold way.

 

Campbell looked at the Serkonan in an angry way. “No so far, but you must remember to ‘Every man his choice, to every man his fate’ that’s why some have the plague and others don’t, because of each decision we made our fate will come out of it. Don’t forget that Corvo.”

 

Corvo looked at him in a dark way, he won’t last long Corvo told himself. Campbell would soon be out of his way, then he smiled at the High Overseer. Sokolov saw the cold way the Lord Protector looked at the Overseer and then how he smiled in a dark way, but remained in silence and concentrated in the painting.

 

“You are right, to every man his choice, to every man his fate,” and he walked away. “Come on Emily,” said Corvo as he passed his hand over his daughter’s hairs. “Lets go and see your mother.”

 

Emily ran up ahead of Corvo. He by passed a guard that was at the entrance of the main garden and kept walking, he looked at her. There she was standing at the gazebo looking at the river, with Hiram Burrows standing by her side. Corvo walked forward but stood out of the gazebo looking at them, listening what they were discussing.

 

Jessamine was giving her back to him and hadn’t noticed his presence, while Burrows was simply looking at her. She had her arms crossed.

 

“They’re sick people, not criminals,” she said angrily.

 

“We’ve gone beyond that question your Majesty. They’re-“ said Burrows but before he could continue Jessamine interrupted him.

 

“They’re my citizens, and we will save them from the plague if we can. All of them,” she said calming herself.

 

“Very well,” said Burrows, but Corvo could see that the man was annoyed.

 

“We will not speak of this again,” said Jessamine. Corvo saw how Emily was just standing next to her mother and waited for her to finish.

 

“Mother,” she said, causing both adults look at her. “Corvo is back!”

 

“Thank you Emily,” said Jessamine in serious tone, she was still angry at Burrows, that was good or at least from Corvo’s point of view. It will help him in his cause. “Leave us please,” she said trying to sound more serene and calm but he knew she was furious.

 

Burrows made a bow and added. “As you wish, Your Majesty,” and then walked away from the gazebo. “Corvo, three days early. Full of surprises, as usual,” he said, Corvo couldn’t really said if Burrows was surprised or annoyed to see him.

 

But yes, he was full of surprises, he looked at Burrows with the cold expression that he always had, while he was really thinking that the Spymaster didn’t even knew what kind of surprise would be awaiting him. Corvo eyed the man as he walked pass him, then he walked toward Jessamine.

 

“It’s a fair wind that brings you home to me. What news have you brought?” she said as she extended her hand.

 

Corvo looked at her, she was fair indeed, with her long black hair held up, that he liked to set loose, and tangle his fingers in between those silk like hairs. Her light blue eyes that usually say more than words and her fair skin, soft and warm to the contact and her bright soft lips that really didn’t need makeup to look as sensual as they always did. To think that all that beauty was his alone, he wondered more than once how many noblemen had cursed him and desired to be in his place not only to be able to stare at her fair sight all day, but to share her bed as well. He smiled at her and began walking toward where she was, secretly wishing that they could be alone so he could kiss her and embrace her, after all they had parted from one another for two long months and he had missed her.

 

Corvo heard at the distance Burrows telling Curnow to leave them alone, he looked at them, but decided that maybe, it will help him. She would surely be desolated by the letter, it would be simple from that point onward, he would simply hugged her and reassure her, telling her that they would be able to find a cure, and he would start playing his cards and things would move the way he wanted them to move and head in the direction he wanted them to go. Corvo took the letter from within his coat and handed it over to Jessamine. She read it quite quickly, he could even see how she moved her lips in some words, she gave half turned to him.

 

“I hoped that one of the other cities had dealt with this before. Knew of some cure. This news is very bad. We’re at the breaking point.” Corvo looked at her, now it was his time to make his move. “Cowards! They’re going to blockade us. They’ll wait to see if the plague turns the city into a graveyard.”

 

Corvo knew it was in that moment that he would start playing his game, but he needed to do it carefully. He looked at Emily and simply said.

 

“Emily, would you mind giving us a couple of minutes alone? I will call you right away I promise,” he said smiling to the girl, who looked at him and then went to the table and grabbed her doll and ran away probably to where Sokolov was. Then Corvo turned and looked at Jessamine. “I don’t think they are waiting to see if the city turns into a graveyard, Jessamine,” said Corvo, but he knew that that was partially a lie. The princess of Tyvia and the prince of Morley, had told him that they wouldn’t open their ports to Dunwall or Gristol unless the plague would be in control. “See it through their perspectives, would you open your ports to a city that is falling into chaos because of a sickness that doesn’t seem to have a cure?”

 

“Of course I would! I’m the Empress and I’m supposed to look after all the people of the Empire. They should be sending help over not… not this! I sent you, so you would bring help back, but it seems that they have forgotten that they form part of the Empire,” she said looking at him angrily.

 

Corvo gave a sigh. “It isn’t that they don’t want to help, but they can’t, or at least Morley and Tyvia can’t.” Jessamine opened her mouth but Corvo quickly added. “Let me finish first, let’s say that Alba had the plague instead of Dunwall, would you be willing to send ships to a city, knowing that there would be a chance of importing the sickness back to Dunwall, and not only would you be having to dealt with one city falling into chaos but two? Imagine that the three isles would have done that and not only now would Dunwall be with the plague but Caulkenny, Cullero and Caltan. And probably the whole Empire would fall victim of the plague just because they send ships and imported the plague to their islands without even knowing it, they have to be careful. They can’t let that happen and even if they would be willing to see Dunwall fall into pieces, I think is for the best for a single city to fall than the whole Empire.”

 

Corvo felt the strong slap across his the face, he rubbed it and looked at her, he saw her shaking and the tears of anger in her eyes. He walked toward her and set his hands on her shoulder and before she could shove him away, he hugged her and whispered into her ear. “But there might be some hope left for your city.”

 

“Hope?” she said with rage and anguish in her voice.

 

“Yes,” he said reassuring her with a smiled. “Serkonos, you know they have always stood by your side and they will always be there. There is where your hope could reside. There might be a cure back there in my homeland, it isn’t for sure, but there is a slight possibility.”

 

“What? How? You just told me that they are closing their ports, you even give me letter supporting this and now you are telling me there is a possible cure?” she said confused.

 

“Yes that is what I’m telling you,” he said smiling at her.

 

She looked at him with confusion and despair in her eyes, but he kept smiling at her. She shook her head trying to understand what he had just told her. They were so close that he could smell that soft scent that she liked to wear, he looked at her and closed the gap between them and kissed her. She broke the embrace after a couple of seconds and looked at him.

 

“Corvo,” she simply whispered, but before she could said anything he had already pressed her against one of the pillars of the gazebo and kissed her more deeply. They broke apart after a couple of minutes and he started kissing her on the neck. “Corvo, please. The guards… the guards could see us,” she murmured.

 

“To the Void with the guards,” he answered back in a low murmur and kept kissing her.

 

“Please Corvo… s-stop. What if Emily sees us…” He broke apart of her and looked at her. “I promise you that as soon as Emily is asleep we can be in each other arms all night long. Now would you tell me more about this cure?”

 

He gave a sigh of frustration but instead of telling her of the cure he looked at the sky, it was getting late and he hadn’t had anything for meal. “Shouldn’t we be heading inside? I really haven’t had anything decent for meal in the last couple of days,” he said looking at her.

 

“Alright then,” she said with both arms crossed. “You can have your meal and then you can tell me everything about you voyage.”

 

He smiled at her and nodded, then started walking behind her, he stopped and looked at the water lock, he had felt that there was someone watching them, but he didn’t saw anyone. So he guessed that his imagination must have been playing tricks on him, after all they were in Dunwall Tower the safest place in the entire city.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Jessamine was sleeping placidly over Corvo’s bare chest with a serene expression on her face, as if nothing grave or dark had fallen upon her Empire or city. Corvo was lying awake, his right hand over her bare shoulder with a few lock of her hair tangled in between his fingers, while his left hand rested below her left arm. He was moving his fingers in circles over her breast, as he thought how well everything had gone so far. After the meeting in the gazebo, he was able to avoid talking about the cure until they were alone on her chamber early that same night and had their first go. She had show to have the same desire that he had, so after they had made love for the first time in that night, he had told her about the possibility that Serkonos could have the cure. Of course it would take time to get the cure, but above all, it would also have to be verify that the sickness which was mentioned in the old Serkonan texts was indeed the plague. He had also told her that the Duke hadn’t wrote about it in the letter because if it wasn’t the same sickness, the Duke didn’t want to give false hopes to Her Grace in these dark times for Dunwall. Corvo had also told her that he had already told Sokolov, that he should write a detail report of the sickness symptoms and appearance of the victims, from early states to corpses and send it back to Serkonos. So back in Serkono they could compare and see if it was truly the same sickness. If so, they would search for the cure and send it right away. 

 

He smiled at himself, everything would go his way, though he would had to tell Sokolov to write that report and send it, yet he wouldn’t tell the Tyvian that it was urgent or something of the sort. Corvo knew that the man was proud and arrogant, and probably would take that request as an insult to his elixir. The elixir wasn’t really any real cure for the plague and it was far too expensive to make, as much as the other elixir that was also sold in Dunwall. Still he would have to send a letter to the Duke in about three weeks from that day telling him to send a message to Jessamine saying that they were comparing notes with Sokolov’s report and things of the sort, giving her some hope and him, some time to get rid of more nobles in the parliament or that they died by the plague. He wondered if there would be anyone willing to put inside some rats plague inside the nobility houses, so, they would acquire the plague. Not that anyone would really miss the nobility of the city.

 

Corvo had also convinced Jessamine to ask Burrows about the investigation regarding the rat plague, that it had been far too long, and that the man hadn’t come out with anything, that was unsettling. She hadn’t liked that, and had asked him not to talk about the rat plague while they were in bed. To what he had simply reply that it was strange that the Spymaster hadn’t come out with a culprit and that maybe he knew who it was, but he was protecting him/her or that he truly didn’t knew who had imported the rat plague and therefore was an incompetent man and was now useless for his post. Of course Jessamine hadn’t liked the implication but he had managed to get her mind off that again, after a couple of minutes. Still he had already seed the small doubt in Jessamine’s head, of Burrows either working with the culprit or protecting him/her or that he wasn’t useful anymore. Either ways the days of Lord Hiram Burrows as Spymaster were coming to an end. And even if Burrows could make up a story saying that Morley had been the one importing and seeding the rat plague in Dunwall, to make the Empire crumble so they could regain their independence, Corvo would deal with the man personally, removing him permanently. Burrows had always been an obstacle for Corvo and there was little love between the men. So it was either that Jessamine would dispose of him or Burrows would find a way to end through Corvo’s blade. Corvo wondered if Burrows suspected anything of him, knowing that Hiram had been who had imported the rat plague, but Corvo had been careful enough to leave everything as he had found it. Yet Corvo would have to be careful with the man until he would get rid of him.

 

He gave a sigh and smiled at no one in particular when he felt how Jessamine hugged him.

 

“That feels good,” she said a low voice. “Sometimes I wished that these moments would last an eternity and wouldn’t really have to worry about anything.”

 

“So do I,” he said, she rose and met him.

 

“Why are you smiling in that way?” she asked as she looked at him.

 

“What way?”

 

“That way,” she said and kissed him softly. “In a mockery and somehow wicked. As if you were plotting something and already are enjoying your victory.”

 

“I’m not smiling in that way,” he said.

 

“Yes, you are.”

 

“Well then,” he said as he rolled her over, leaving her on her back. “Maybe I should go and plot my diabolic plans somewhere else if I’m so easy to read, I wouldn’t like her Grace would known what I’m planning to do with the Empire, would I?” he said cynically.

 

She looked at him in the eye and laughed softly. “You are only easy to read when you are in bed, but I hardly doubt that you would plot something against Dunwall, would you?”

 

“You have no idea,” he said and kissed her.

 

“We still have some time, don’t we?”

 

“Yes, we still have some time left,” he said and began kissing her again.

 

**-.-.-.-**

 

Corvo had told her that he would have prefered that they would meet with the old Spymaster inside the Tower that it was safer, but she had laughed at him and said it was a lovely day and nothing bad would happen to her while she was with him. Corvo hadn’t been too pleased to go outside. They didn’t just meet Hiram Burrows outside but again this Sokolov and the High Overseer Campbell whose portrait was about to be finished. Corvo didn’t know why they had to come over to the Tower, they could simply go to Sokolov’s house and finish there the bloody portrait it was bad enough to have Burrows at the Tower but having Campbell, made Corvo more uneasy.

 

Corvo was looking at Emily, the girl was playing with her favorite doll, Mrs. Pilsen. A doll that Corvo had never really liked, it had brown hair held up in an elaborate fashion, her eyes were pinch dark and could be closed if the doll was lying on her back, the cheeks were of a soft pink as were her lips. Her face, arms and legs were made of porcelain, and her main body of a simple cloth of linen, fill up with cotton to make it softer, but the doll was quite heavy. She wore a fancy dress, like the ones Emily used when they go and meet the nobility of the other islands or when an important event required that she was there alongside her mother and Corvo. Corvo had never liked that doll nor any of the others that Emily had, he had always found them creepy, with empty eyes on their faces simply watching, everything and nothing at the same time. He hoped, that she would fancy more the doll that he had brought her for her birthday. Emily moved by the edge of the gazebo pointing out to Mrs. Pilsen all the important places that were in Dunwall, saying some small facts that probably she had been learning on her history class regarding the city. He smiled softly at her, amazed that the girl wasn’t concerned about the plague even though she heard of it on daily bases.

 

“It is just nonsense, your Majesty,” said Burrows, making Corvo to paid attention to Jessamine and the Spymaster. “It is ridiculous to think that indeed Serkonos have a cure for the plague. If so, why didn’t they send it back when you sent him,” he said as he pointed at Corvo.

 

“It isn’t nonsense, Hiram. I do believe that Serkonos could have the cure. They didn’t send it, because they have to make sure that the sickness describe in the texts is the same as the plague. That’s why they didn’t send anything,” said Jessamine looking angrily at Burrows.

 

“Nonsense, I tell you, your Majesty,” said Burrows. “How difficult could it be compare both sicknesses? I just think that they are playing with us, to see if they can get something out of this.”

 

“It isn’t nonsense, Spymaster,” said Corvo in an icy tone of voice, Burrows turned and looked at him. “Those texts are quite old, and they need to be studied with great care. And both sicknesses have to be compared, because what would have been the use to send something over if it isn’t going to work better than the two elixirs that are already sold here in Dunwall?”

 

“Old texts?” said Burrows. “How old could they be?”

 

“Between five hundred and six hundred years old,” said Corvo. “It appeared that the plague strike the city of Cullero before the expansion of your fair kingdom of Gristol and there was any peace in Serkonos. I’m sure you know a bit of history Lord Burrows and would recall pretty well that Serkonos surrendered to the Gristolan army, as it had been going through a quite complicated and devastated time with internal problems, rather than fight, it decided to yield.”

 

“Of course I recall that,” said Burrows but his tone of voice said another thing.

 

Corvo knew that most people in the city of Dunwall were uneducated and ignorant and that didn’t ended with the commoners. Most of nobility, that even knew how to read and write, just took care to learn the history of Gristol, believing that the history of the other islands didn’t have anything important to offer, and less learning the language of them. Corvo had to admit that that had come in handy most of the times, as he had received a better education than most of the noblemen he had met over his sixteen years on Dunwall and when he wanted to talk to Jessamine over private matters he usually spoke with her in Serkonan, stopping any one to hear them. Also, he was happy that not even the same Spymaster really knew the story of Serkonos that well. If they would had know from the beginning, Corvo was pretty sure they would had never accepted him as Royal Protector, even if the Attano family was an old family in Serkonos all its line came from assassins and mercenaries, that later had become the Grand Guard. Now they were the official keepers of the peace, but that was just a big lie, the Grand Guard was still kept as mercenaries and assassins that usually went to kill under the Duke’s orders, but now it was ‘inside the law’. Corvo had wondered more than once, what would the good people of Dunwall would have done, if they knew that the Lord Protector was descendant of assassins and mercenaries and that his family had always been in league with a sword and blood.

 

“Then you most recall as well that back then, it was spoke in Serkonos what is now known as Old Serkonan, and so have to be translated,” said Corvo.

 

“Still, old texts won’t save us,” said Burrows with spite. “If we wish to bring this city to be what it was, then we must take bold measures, like installing quarantine zones and checkpoints with Walls of light.”

 

“I already told you, I’m not doing that Hiram,” said Jessamine angrily. “Those people that you want to crisp, are my citizens and I’m not going to let you do that just because you think is better. There must be a way to control the plague better than constructing all those things.”

 

“Like what your Majesty? We had been already using the Flooded District as a small drop zone for the dead but, somehow the sick still evaded us and kept this city in ruins,” said Burrows.

 

“Flooded District?” asked Corvo.

 

“After you went away a dam broke and half the district of Commerce went down,” said Jessamine looking sad. “The other half is caught in between the river and the flooded part, all of its residents had been evacuated to safe areas and now it is known to be used by gangs and as a drop zone for the bodies.”

 

“Still we need to take stronger measures, your Majesty, we need to eradicate the problem, we need to get rid of the sick!” said Burrows already desperate.

 

“Talking about the problem Hiram,” said Corvo smirking at him. “Don’t you have something to say to Her Grace?” The Spymaster looked at the younger man with surprised.

 

“What?”

 

“Yes,” said Jessamine. “Do you have anything to report regarding the importation of the rat plague? Have you found anything about it?” she asked.

 

Burrows looked from Jessamine to Corvo and back. He saw Jessamine’s worried face, she seemed desolate, as she didn’t want to believe something, hoping that Burrows would give her an explanation. The older man looked at Corvo, who was simply looking at him, he had stopped smirking. Corvo was staring at him, straight at the eyes with a cold and piercing look, with those dark brown and empty eyes that the Serkonan had. Burrows felt that those eyes were tearing him apart, learning all of his secrets and he wondered if the Serkonan knew something. He turned and looked at the Empress who was looking at him in a more pious way, hoping to hear the answer she wanted, the man felt cold sweat running in the back of his neck.

 

“I haven’t learned anything new your Majesty,” he said finally.

 

“That is such a shame, I had hoped that after two months you would know something,” said Jessamine concerned.

 

“That is strange, Hiram,” said Corvo, Burrows looked at him. “It seems to me that you always were able to find the culprit of any plot within days, but now. You are taking longer than usual,” he said sounding surprised. “I mean, how difficult could it be to find out who imported the sick rats. I mean there shouldn’t be too many importations of sick rats, or you think that there are? Maybe we need new blood in the Spymaster office.”

 

Burrows stared at Corvo’s cold eyes, had the Serkonan just threat him? “I really don’t think that there is such a need,” said Burrows.

 

“I think that Corvo is right, Hiram” said Jessamine, the Spymaster looked at the Empress. “But what I think that Corvo’s mean, is that maybe you should appoint new men to this investigation, rather than old ones, also I think it would be good that you use some of the City Watch. Maybe that way you could get some new information.”

 

Burrows looked at the Empress and made a bow. “If that is what your Majesty thinks, that is what I should do, I will look over this matter. Still rather than worrying about why or who introduce the plague, I think it would be important to eradicate it. And like I said before we should improve our security measures.”

 

“Still it is important to know who and why Hiram,” said Jessamine with both arms crossed. “And like I told you before we aren’t going to implement those Wall of light around the city. There is enough death already to have small children ran into them or someone else and die because of them,” Jessamine gave a sigh and pressed a hand against her front. “I have enough of this foul talk, now leave us.”

 

“As you wish your Majesty,” said Burrows, made a bow and left them.

 

Corvo stared at the man and saw again how he left the area looking at the ceilings as he was waiting for something. Corvo wondered if Burrows would really be plotting something. Then he looked at Jessamine.

 

“I know what you are thinking and I don’t want to hear it,” she said as she walked away and looked at the Wrenhaven River.

 

“I haven’t said anything,” he said.

 

“I know you think we need a new Spymaster,” she said. “In the past he had done well his job, I don’t understand why he is taking so much time.”

 

“Maybe he was competent in the past, but we can’t risk it to have an incompetent Spymaster now Jessamine, we can’t. We need a new man who is able to locate the real culprit behind all this, whoever it is. We need a new Spymaster and you know that, he isn’t trustworthy anymore, he must be protecting the person who is behind all this and you know it,” he said.

 

She turned around. “Corvo,” she said and looked around. “Wait, were are the guards? Who send them away?”

 

“It was Hiram,” said Corvo as he looked around. “He did the same thing yesterday, he told them to go away, and you think he still trustful.” He instinctively grabbed the handle of his sword, if he had learned one thing in all his years as bodyguard was that if there weren’t any guards around, it only meant one thing, trouble.

 

“Mother, look! What are they doing on the rooftop?” said Emily as she pointed to the roof of the water lock. Corvo looked at it and saw some men moving forward covering great distances in less than a second.

 

“What? Emily, come here!” said Jessamine as she hold Emily toward her.

 

Two men wearing industrial masks appeared out of thin air in front of them, Corvo took out the pistolthe sword he had been carrying.He engaged the man that was closest to him.

“Get out of here!” he told them but just by looking at the corner of his eye he saw that the other man, which whom he wasn’t fighting, prevented them from leaving the area. He did what thought was best, he pushed away the man that was closest and gained the attention of the man that was menacing the Kaldwin women. But as soon as he was fighting the two men a third one appeared. Corvo simply cursed in a low voice.

 

The assassin that he had pushed away tried to land a blow on Corvo, which he evaded but the second man used the opportunity to stab him on the side. Corvo barely evaded the fatal blow and just was wounded on his left side. He pushed the assassin strongly and made him loose his balance then he shot him in the leg. Corvo turned and faced the man on his right that tried to use a crossbow on him. Corvo blocked the dart and landed a blow on the arm of the assassin, who jumped backwards in pain. Corvo raised his sword ready to cut the man in two but the third man slashed Corvo’s arms, Corvo turned swiftly and cut the man on the chest making him disappear in thin air. Then the man that had been wounded on the leg tried to jump on him, but Corvo landed a blow on his arm, making him also disappeared. Then he looked at the remaining man, Corvo easily evaded his slashed and managed to land several blows on him making him disappeared on the end.

 

Corvo panted and looked around, to see Emily rushing toward him and Jessamine looking at him with fear. Jessamine walked forward and looked at him.

“Corvo thank you. If you…” but she stopped when she saw the blood coming down his arm and stained his hand. “You are hurt, let me see it,” she said as she looked at his right arm.

 

“Is just a scratch,” he said trying to reassure her, he looked around, still holding Emily close to him, “We should leave, they might be coming again,” he heard something, he turned to his left and immediately pushed Emily behind him, as he saw another assassin, who used some sort of magic to immobilized him and pulled him up in the air.

A man appeared out of thin air, he was different than the other ones, he didn’t wear a mask, nor dressed himself in blue but in red. Corvo looked at him and saw how he tried to grab Emily.

 

“Get away from her!” said Jessamine trying to protected their daughter.

 

The man pushed away Jessamine with a slap, sending her backwards to the same spot in which she had been standing just a couple of minutes ago. Corvo saw how the man moved toward Jessamine and took out a long knife.

“Corvo!” cried out Jessamine.

 

It had been a long time since he had felt that useless. See how the woman he loved die again in front of his eyes and won’t be able to do anything, the first time, he had been just a boy and really couldn’t have done much for her, but this time, if he wouldn’t had been stopped with black magic, he could have saved Jessamine, the woman he now loved. The man had grabbed Jessamine by the throat and had pushed her against the rail and then he stabbed her, she made an agonizing noise. The man grabbed her by the collar of her blouse and threw her to the ground as if she was merely a rag doll, there was so much blood.

Corvo heard Emily screaming for her mother, it was in that moment that Corvo saw how Emily tried to ran away. But another assassin in red that had just appeared grabbed her, she screamed his name and disappeared in thin air. He felt how the bondages disappeared and he fell to the ground, he got hurt by the fall, he was sure he had broken a few ribs with it. He raised his face and saw how the man in red disappeared, had his hand shined seconds before he had disappeared? Corvo looked at Jessamine and forgot completely about the man and crawled toward her.

 

“No, no, no… don’t be dead, don’t be dead,” he heard himself saying as he moved toward her. He grabbed her and turned her over she looked at him.

 

“Corvo…it’s all… coming apart. Find… Find Emily,” she looked at him in a desperate way. “Protect her. You’re the only one. You’ll know what to do. Won’t you? Corvo?”

 

“Jessamine, no!”

No, no, no! This couldn’t be happening. No! This couldn’t be, he had so many plans, and he had been so close to achieve them, so close. He needed her to live, he needed her to be by his side ruling. He had lost his golden opportunity, he had been so close and now everything was escaping him through his fingers just like her blood. And now she was gone, Jessamine was dead, the woman he loved was dead. Everything had gone to ruin and he lost her. She was dead and their daughter was missing. This couldn’t be any worse. He saw at the corner of his eyes several boots, he looked up to find several guards, Burrows and Campbell. Corvo looked with hate and loath at the guards, why were they taking orders from Burrows, when they should have remained on their posts.

 

“Word us all, look at what he’s done,” said Campbell without hesitation.

 

“Yes, he’s killed the Empress,” said Burrows, Corvo knew in that moment that Burrows had send the assassin in red and his assassins after Jessamine. That was why he had wanted to meet her at the gazebo, so his assassin could kill her easily. “What did you do with young lady Emily, traitor?” Corvo rose slowly, gritting his teeth, trying to reach for his sword, but it was where he had fallen and he didn’t grabbed it when he had crawled toward Jessamine.

 

“Her own body guard. Ironic” said Campbell.

 

“I’ll see you beheaded for this Corvo. Take him,” said Burrows.

 

The guard that was standing to Corvo’s left knocked him with the handle of his sword, but that just made Corvo to stumble a few steps backward. Corvo looked at Burrows and threw himself at him, tackling him down. Campbell took several steps away and screamed for help, as the two guards that were there tried to take Corvo off Burrows. Corvo quickly pushed one of the guards and took his pistol, shooting at both of the guards dead. Several guards arrived and grabbed Corvo by his coat, as he had been hitting Burrows in face. Corvo tried to grab another guard’s pistol or sword but one of them punched him behind his head. Corvo moved toward the guard, ready to kill him, another one shoot him making him fall to the ground. Corvo extended his hand and tried to grab Jessamine’s hand. But two guards raised him and started dragging him away. Corvo looked one more time at Jessamine, she was there in a pool of her own blood.

 

“I WILL KILL YOU HIRAM BURROWS! I WILL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DONE TO ME!” he screamed in rage as they dragged him to Coldridge prison.

 

They throw him into a cell, at first the Captain of the prison didn’t understand, but simply looked at Corvo and then told one of the guards to go and fetch the medic of the prison, as the new prisoner was clearly wound. That afternoon Burrows came to see him.

 

“Why you done it Corvo? Why you killed her? Was it for power? Or it was perhaps that someone in one of the Isle told to you kill her?”

 

“You can fooled them all you want, but you can’t fool me, Hiram,” said Corvo as he grabbed the iron bars of his cell. “And I will kill you for what you done, for no one, NO ONE, double crossed a Serkonan and lives to tell the tale, NO ONE!”

 

Burrows looked at Corvo and started walking away, “Tell yourself that lie if you want Corvo, but you are in prison and I’m going to start a regency over this Empire soon enough.”

 

“I WILL KILL YOU BURROWS EVEN IF THAT IS THE LAST THING I DO IN THIS LIFE! I WILL GET YOU! MARK MY WORDS I WILL GET YOU!”

 

But Burrows paid no heed to them and walked away, letting Corvo cursed him out loud in the four languages that the Empire had.


	4. chapter 4

It had already been a month and half since Corvo had been thrown into prison, without a trial or anything of the sort. The Lord Regent had condemned him of murdering the fair Empress Jessamine Kaldwin and kidnapping the young Lady Emily, in less than a week all the city knew of the dreadful things the former Lord Protector had done to the Kaldwin women. How he had plotted to get rid of the Empress and her daughter and rule the Empire at his will. Of course the valiant Lord Hiram Burrows, loyal Spymaster of the late Empress, had caught him in the act and had been able to stop him of ruling the Empire but wasn’t able to stop him of butchering the Empress. Yet no one knew where sweet Lady Emily was and the traitor wouldn’t say a word about it even after all the torturing he had gone through. Some good people of the city had heard from a reliable sources that the man was skilled in black magic and that was how he had managed to hide away the young Lady, that seemed to have she disappear from the city itself.

 

While he had stayed in the Coldridge prison for the past month and half, Corvo had tried break out five times. He had been able to get to the main door of Coldridge prison in all of them, where he usually was subdued by more than ten guards each time, usually with the help of sleeping narcotics and each time he awoke with a dry mouth and in his cell after the narcotics had wear off. In all his attempts to break free of the prison he had claimed the life of at least one guard, not caring who they were or if they hadn’t show him any cruelty, for him they were all the same, dogs that would do Burrows work, not matter what it was. So he hadn’t felt guilty at all for killing them, each time he tried to escape.

 

But that day was different he wouldn’t be trying to escape, he would be breaking free of Coldridge. Corvo had decided that he didn’t care if he had to kill the entire City Watch to get out of the dammed prison, he would be getting out. Since that day was different and was special and he wasn’t going to be spending it in the bloody cell he was in. Corvo was staring with an empty look at the wall in front of him, simply waiting for his meal, waiting for his opportunity. He heard the door of his cell opening and saw how the guard left the tray on the ground. Corvo jumped on him, breaking his neck in just one movement, he took the sword and made his way out of his cell.

 

As he made his way through the corridors, he killed several guards stealthy without alerting the others, he thought it was being too damn easy, but really couldn’t complain, after all he did want to get out of Corldridge. He knew what he would be doing when he be outside, he would find Burrows, he would made Burrows tell him where was Emily and then kill him. Corvo knew that was what he would be doing, he would get his daughter back, make her clean his name and then proceed with what he had been planning. He would said that time was upon him, but not really, delaying the cure of the plague would only work on his favor, so there wasn’t really any problem with that.

 

As soon as Corvo walked into the last yard, he saw them, Hiram Burrows walking right at him with Thaddeus Campbell. Corvo could not have asked for something better or sweeter, he smiled in a sadistic way when he saw them. He remained in the middle of the patio waiting for the men to get there, once they had decended the stairs they saw him with a bloody sword on his hand. Corvo quickly ran to them, ready to strike and kill them, but suddenly an Overseer appeared out of nowhere, the man was quick enough to blockade Corvo’s attack, it was in that moment that Corvo realize that the two men had brought company. Campbell had brought a couple of Overseers and Burrows would have brought his interrogator. Corvo quickly looked up and saw another Overseer running up the stairs and screaming for help. In a couple of minutes Corvo had already disable the Overseer he had been fighting, cutting off his arm. The man screamed in pain and Corvo pushed him to his side and finally cut off his head. He moved forward to Burrows ready to land a blow on him but the huge man that was the interrogator got in between them.

 

The interrogator grabbed Corvo’s blade and pushed it backward, throwing Corvo a few steps back. Corvo looked at the man, he was huge, a giant, an abomination some would say. Corvo stared at him, he had a big body and round head with a couple of big ears and his face wasn’t exactly pleasant to look upon. The man moved toward Corvo, wielding a long metal bar, swinging it in erratic movements. Corvo knew that the man didn’t have any military training of any sort and therefore wouldn’t know how to land a blow properly, but he knew that the man was strong and brutal. There was a reason after all, why Hiram Burrows had chosen him up from among other people who dedicated to the same things as this man. Corvo also knew first hand of the incredible strength that the man posses, as he had been tortured already enough times by him under Burrows direction, last time the huge man had whipped Corvo’s back for several hours, Corvo still bore some of the wounds on his back and most of them hadn’t completely healed.

 

Corvo moved from one side to another with the sword on guarding position, just walking left and then right, keeping his distance from the man. Yet he couldn’t move in circles, the man kept stopping him from getting any close to Burrows or Campbell. The huge man tried to attack Corvo who jumped backwards gaining again some distance in between them, Corvo knew one thing, he wasn’t going to let that man get close enough to him.

 

“Seem that the little Serkonan girl is afraid of a real man, a Gristolan man. You go and show him Morris!” cried out a guard, Corvo could have glare at the guard and make him piss his pants but he couldn’t risk to lose the sight of the other man for just one second, so he paid no heed to the mockeries that the guards of Coldridge had started to yell. When they had arrived he didn’t knew but he couldn’t care less.

 

The interrogator and Corvo danced in a strange way, moving just from left to right and right to left. The Serkonan usually avoided positions that would leave him in a close space, since that would make him an easy target for the huge man. While the other man tried his best to avoid the quick blows that the Lord Protector land on him. Corvo noticed that though he had already landed several blows on him, it appeared as if they were merely scratches, nothing really serious. He wondered if the stories he had heard regarding that man could be true. Could this man, Morris, really go every full moon to the old hotel district, the red zone of Dunwall, find a lonely courtesan and kill her? Offering her dead body to the Outsider as a sacrifice? Corvo really doubt it, he knew that probably the man had killed a courtesan by accident and that the story had turned far too wild, each time it was told, each time it had more details and was more spicy, since the first time he heard it the man had simply break her neck, the second time, he had torn her into two. But that one wasn’t the only story regarding Burrows’ interrogator. There was also one, that said that his tongue had been cut off by a dark and old witch that used it as a means to speak with the Outsider and that from that day on, the boy had been bound to the witch and the Outsider itself. Could it be that the reason why he had been able to stand his attacks, Corvo wondered? But there was also another story that was really disturbing, that said, that the man usually take corpses not matter of whom they were and hung them from meat hooks and beat them down with his crowbar. Corvo had told himself that those stories, were just stories, and they belong with the stories that his older brother used to told him and his sister in stormy nights back at Serkonos when he had been just a small child.

 

“This is taking too long Hiram,” said Campbell. “Jefferson, Martin help Mr. Sullivan deal with this traitor, but don’t kill him.”

 

“Captain, tell your men to attack him as well,” said Burrows to the Captain of the prison. The man nodded and told his men to begin attacking the prisoner.

 

Corvo noticed how several men approached, he quickly count them, two Overseers, and four men of the Watch and the interrogator. He admitted to himself, the only one that truly worried him was the interrogator, the other six, he could easily dispatch them. But the other man, he was going to be trouble. Corvo had fought with men like him like three times in all his life, but not only had the big men been the only target but some of the times he had been with others that would help him bring down the man, not the other way around. Corvo took a deep breath and decided to finish off first with the little pest and then he would deal with the interrogator.

 

Corvo moved swiftly evading the blows of the interrogator and faced an Overseer, the man tried to slash Corvo, but the swords of the Overseers were shorter than those of the City Watch giving Corvo a bit of advantage. The dance between the Overseer and the Serkonan didn’t last long, as the last one finished burying his sword in the chest of the Overseer. Corvo let lose his sword lose as he kicked the man’s body down. He barely evaded a fatal blow delivered by the huge man while he rolled over. One of the City guards tried to slash him, but Corvo blocked the attack and pushed the man backward, he rose quickly and then slashed him across the chest, the guard fell dead as Corvo had turned to face the other Overseer. The man managed to evade most of Corvo’s attack but not all of them, after a couple of minutes both of them weren’t only attacking each other but dodging the interrogator’s attacks as well. Corvo wounded the man deeply on the arm, making him lose the sword. The Overseer screamed and instead of trying to take the sword back, or remaining there he jumped behind the guards that remained. Corvo had to admit that that had been the most intelligent thing he had seen someone do while facing him. The three remaining men tried to attack him all at the same, which was a bit useful as they were able to land just two blows on him. Corvo knew they weren’t really serious and he really didn’t worried about them. He moved backwards, blocking one of the man’s attacks and quickly cutting his arm off and then the head. Corvo evaded swiftly one of the other men attacks and took several steps backwards and he collided against a metal box. It was in that moment that Corvo realized his mistake, he had made it when he had been fighting the Overseer he had moved from the open part of the yard to the place where most of the boxes where the hounds and wolfhounds were sent where placed. Corvo cursed the Overseer silently as he could almost see the smirk on his face, happy that his tactic had been useful, even though he wasn’t the one that would use it.

 

Corvo looked at the two men that were looking at him and before he tried to open a path between them and get out of that tight space, one of the head’s of the guards split into two, the interrogator had swing his crowbar strongly enough, trying to reach Corvo with it. Blood, bone and brains stained not only Corvo but the other guard. Corvo quickly cleaned it with a simple movement but he saw the fear in the eyes of the other man, it was more than fear it was pure terror. He tried to run away but the huge man grabbed him and threw him across the yard making him break his neck as he crashed against other metal boxes. Corvo jumped to one side and tried to get away but this time the huge man was quicker and grabbed him by the coat and threw him against some of the metal boxes. The impact disoriented Corvo for a couple of seconds, he felt pain in his face and guessed that he had cut it when he clashed against the metal box. While Corvo still remain in the ground trying to get his head straight it gave enough time for the other man to cross the room and landed several blow on Corvo with his crowbar. Corvo rolled, protecting his head and tried to rise but the interrogator grabbed him by one leg. Corvo turned and kicked him in the face, making the man lost grip of his leg. The man groaned in pain and blood started coming out of his nose. Corvo rose and slashed him on the arm and hand, making him released the crowbar, which Corvo quickly kicked under one of the metal boxes. The interrogator looked at Corvo with hate, and threw himself toward the Serkonan. Corvo was ready for the charge, and was almost sure he would be able to killed him if he push his sword deep enough, but the other man grabbed something that was laying on top of one of the boxes. Another bloody bar, Corvo saw it and cursed the man. Corvo evaded the man but he quickly turned and landed another blow on Corvo. Corvo noticed that the man had become quicker or maybe it was him the one that had become slower, he had to admit that the few blows that he had received from the interrogator had hurt him. He waited for the other man to threw his attack at him, Corvo blocked the crowbar but the man grabbed him by the shirt and vest and threw him with all his strengthen against one of the boxes. Corvo tried to rise, after he had fall to the ground but the pain was strong, yet he couldn’t let that happen, and less that day. He panted and felt how he was lift, he tried to slash Burrows’ interrogators face but the man threw him into another boxes. Corvo fell again and rolled to one side. He could feel the blood and the cuts in his face as the pain in other parts of his body. Corvo tried to grab his sword but the man stepped on his hand, he rose his heavy foot and then crushed Corvo’s hand. The feeling was pure agony but Corvo was able to restrain the scream, the man crushed it again. Corvo was sure his hand was broken so he did the only thing he could think of, he grabbed the sword with this left hand and quickly buried it into the man’s leg. The man gave a howl of pain and jumped backward. Corvo rose and protected his right hand while with the left one he held the sword. He panted and looked at the other man. The huge man whine as he walked backward, several guards took his place and started attacking Corvo.

 

It was starting to become difficult for Corvo, he had to admit to himself, even though he was able to wield with both hands, his left hand had never been the dominant and the pain on his right hand was making it difficult to remain focus. It was after fiftee minutes that the guards were able to subdue him and knock him unconscious.

 

“Well that took more time than expected,” said Burrows. “Take him to the interrogation room Captain and then make sure that your men receive proper medic attention.”

 

“With all due respect, Lord Regent, don’t you think he had endured  enough beating for one day?” asked the man.

 

Burrows stopped walking and turned to look at the Captain. “Captain Carlew, are you questioning me?”

 

“I didn’t meat to be disrespectful, milord,” said the Captain. “But the man… I hardly think he can take any more, just look at him, he is a mess. I hardly think he will be in any condition, at all, to answer back any question, and wouldn’t it be prudent that the medic also examine him?”

 

“I’m sure he can take far more than this, Captain. He is a traitor, nothing more than that, and he must be accused for what he done. Don’t you want to see young Lady Emily again and that she is crowned Empress? Yet Captain I find a bit disturbing that you are so worried about this man instead of yours.”

 

“It isn’t that I care more about this man milord, but all my men are dead, so they don’t need medical attention. And like you said Lord Regent, wouldn’t we need him alive, so he can tell us the location of Lady Emily?”

 

Burrows looked at the Captain. “I understand your point Captain, but I would suggest you, that you do as you are told and let me worry about the health of this traitor. Your medic will see to him, but after he been interrogated. So if I would be you, I would do as I’m told or maybe I will see some else take the command of this prison, we can’t show mercy to our enemies in this times.”

 

“Yes, sir,” said the Captain, he turned and looked at two of guards that were near. “You two, take him to the interrogation room, and you go and fetch the medic, we need that he check if there are any survivors. And tell Rogers to bring some guards to clean this mess.” The guard nodded and proceeded to leave the area. Captain Carlew just turned and looked that the other two guards grabbed Corvo from the arms and dragged him from the yard toward the interrogation room. The captain looked at the sky and knew that even if it was noon already, the day had just start.


	5. chapter 5

Corvo restrained the scream, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to continue doing that for much longer. He panted, he was also sure he would soon blackout if they continue torturing him. Yet Burrows didn’t seem to be any close of ending the interrogation. Corvo breathed more deeply and took another look at the room, Burrows was looking at some papers in the desk with the Captain Carlew, who kept looking at Corvo in a concerned way, Campbell was talking to the Overseer that had survived Corvo’s attack and had already his arm bandaged and the torturer that also had his leg bandaged but kept glaring at Corvo. Probably hoping to hurt Corvo far more, for what the Serkonan did to him.

 

Corvo looked at his right hand, it was already swollen and had started to turn purple, Corvo could barely move it. They had been using it to torture him, by pressing it and making him writhe in agony.

 

“Now Corvo,” said Burrows as he walked forward. “Where is young Lady Emily, traitor? Tell us and we might give you a fair death, so where is she?”

 

Corvo gritted his teeth, he was so close to Burrows yet he couldn’t do anything to the man. He spat on the face of the other man. The Lord Regent moved backwards and took a handkerchief from within his coat and quickly cleaned his face. The interrogator slapped Corvo with a strong movement, Corvo glared at the man and felt how the blood started dripping from his mouth. The huge man raised his hand again.

 

“That enough, Morris, there isn’t any need for you to do that,” said Burrows. “He is a disgusting man, it doesn’t surprise me at all. After all, he did butchered the Empress in such a salvage way. Guards, take him away! He isn’t going to tell us where is Lady Emily, so I’m not wasting my time anymore with him.” 

 

**“** Hiram **,”** said Corvo in a harsh tone of voice, all the present looked at him, he hadn’t talked in all the time he had been in the chair even if there had passed a couple of hours since he had been brought in. The Lord Regent approached him with caution.

 

“Would you be telling me where is Lady Kaldwin?” Corvo smiled at him and spat again at the man, but this time it wasn’t just saliva but blood, the older man moved backwards, cleaning the blood from his face and coat, showing repulsion toward the younger man.

 

“ _I curse you,_ _Hiram Burrows! I curse you! Death will take you in the way you fear the most in the darkness of the night. I curse you with the blood of my ancestors, as they will see that Death takes you to the Void itself!_ ” said Corvo in Serkonan. Burrows looked at him with disgust, the interrogator slapped Corvo again, making the man hit his head and rendering him unconscious.

 

The guards entered the room and looked at Corvo and took him away. They didn’t even tried to awake him, as it was clearly that the man wouldn’t be regaining consciousness in at least several hours.

 

“I think you just been cursed, Lord Regent” said the Overseer, Burrows looked at him with disbelief. “You know what they say about blood curses… they always become true.”

 

“Those are nonsense Martin,” said Campbell. “How could you say that the Lord Regent had just been cursed, Corvo just spoke in Serkonan. He could have said any thing. And you of all, must know that those things are nonsense, you had told me once, that you were blood cursed. Yet you are here, seems that they don’t always come true.”

 

“Well, High Overseer, I might not know Serkonan, but if a man spit on my face with blood and then said something that sound as dark as what it was said to the Lord Regent. I can only assume that he had been blood cursed, and yes I been cursed,” said Martin and then laughed. “But I killed the man before he could finish cursing me, and as far as I know, no one have ever lived after a Serkonan blood curse. You know they say they are quite pagans on that island of the Empire even though they follow the Abbey of Everyman and have the Oracle Order there. Yet it wouldn’t hurt if the Lord Regent takes one of our brothers with him to the Tower, maybe it will keep the curse at bay.”

 

“He might be right Hiram,” said Campbell. “After all we know that the traitor used dark magic to hide Lady Emily, so it will help if you have one of my boys with you in the Tower, maybe even two.”

 

Burrows looked at both religious men. “I will think about it, but I hardly think I would need that, it is just superstition,” said the man and then walked away.

 

**-.-.-.-**

 

Corvo looked at the doctor of the prison, the man had dark hair and light brown eyes that were hidden under some glasses, also he had a light brown tone of skin. But what actually called Corvo’s attention about the doctor wasn’t exactly that the man remind him of the Serkonans that lived in the cities of Cullero or Bastillian but the fact that he alongside Captain Carlew seem to be genuinely concerned about his well being all the time he had spend on Coldridge prison. The man finished cleaning Corvo’s wounds on his face and gave a sigh. He had cleaned the opening that was a few centimeters below Corvo’s left eye and had tried to close it with a band, also he closed another injury on the right side of his face and saw how a bruise will appear near the opening on Corvo’s left.

 

“Well I can’t do much more for you, Master Attano,” he said as he looked at the man.

 

“He isn’t a master, he is a bloody traitor,” said one of the three guards that were guarding the entrance of Corvo’s cell.

 

Corvo simply glared at them in a cold way. He knew them, they were guards that had been in the Flooded district and had been transfer to Coldridge after Corvo had made several new vacancies. If he had wanted, Corvo knew that he could have taken down those three but his hand ached greatly even though it had already been immobilized by a cast. And the other wounds, caused him to move slightly slower that what he usually moved. The doctor looked at the guards but didn’t say anything, he took his things and looked one more time at the man that was next to him. Corvo was struggling to put on again his shirt, as the medic had asked him to take it off to check that he didn’t had any serious injure under the clothes. Corvo finally managed to put on the shirt and started buttoning it with his left hand. The doctor knew there would be far too many bruise on the man’s body and that it would take some time for him to heal properly and more under the circumstances in which he was living at the moment. The medic had also checked the wounds made by the whips of the last week, he had cleaned them and bandaged Corvo again, he knew that if things kept going that way, the former Lord Protector wouldn’t last more than two more months.

 

“I will make sure that the Lord Regent knows that you truly aren’t in shape to receive more ‘interrogations’,” said the medic. “Unless of course he decided to kill you without a confession for the crimes you did Attano,” Corvo stared at the man with a cold and piercing look. Corvo couldn’t really understand the man, one moment he was helping him and the next he was labeling him traitor. The man moved forward and grabbed Corvo’s cast and started looking at it. He rotated it making Corvo frown slightly, then he added in a low whispered. “Even though you have a great tolerance to pain I would recommend that you stay put, Master Corvo. Don’t try anything harsh or stupid your friends need you alive. And I can assure you that you will break free take care _brother.”_

 

The man stood up and began to walk to the entrance of the cell, Corvo looked at him in surprised. Had he just told him that Serkonos would try to help him? The medic stopped and looked at Corvo. “You know, I just remembered something I heard a long time ago about Serkonos. They say that the shadows in there moved even in the night, when all is dark and there shouldn’t be any shadows at all. That they move and always accomplish what they want no matter if they had to appear as if they aren’t the ones doing it,” he said and left Corvo in the cell. Corvo saw how the man left the solitary wing and the three guards looked at Corvo with disgust and then started following the other man out.

 

Corvo smiled, so he wasn’t alone after all, they haven’t forgot him, that was a bit of relief after all. Now he knew that he would only have to wait. Corvo looked at his hand and saw a couple of pain killers, the medic must have put inside when he grabbed his cast. Corvo knew that Burrows had forbid the doctor to gave any sort of pain killer to him, he gave a sigh of relief and hoped that at least that night the hand wouldn’t bothered him. He rose from his concrete bed and started walking toward the small window that his cell had. The night had already fall and the stars were finally becoming visible.

 

“I had never seen a man fight the way you did today, Master Corvo,” said the Overseer that had walked to Corvo’s cell.

 

The Serkonan turned and faced the man, it was the first time that Corvo really observed the man. He had blue eyes and brown hair, he wasn’t exactly good looking but wasn’t ugly either. Corvo walked slowly to the front of his cell but remained under the shadow, simply looking at the Overseer.

 

“Tell me Overseer, to what do I own the pleasure? Surely you didn’t stay to give the rites to those that I killed early. If so, I guess that I’m in front of the most pious Overseer I have met,” said Corvo. “It seemed that your arm had been bandaged. I hope I didn’t hurt you greatly.”

 

“This?” said the man looking at his right arm. “It’s nothing I have had worst injuries.”

 

Corvo chuckled softly. “Sure a small injury, Overseer,” he said but he had seen how deep he had cut the arm of the man, probably he had received stitches and wouldn’t be able to use his arm for several weeks. “I have to admit that you were the only reasonable and intelligent man that faced me today or so far. Getting yourself out of my way was something prudent, if not you would have ended like your other brothers.”

 

“I have face worst men than you, Corvo,” said the Overseer with arrogance.

 

Corvo looked at him and shook his head. “Sure you have, and probably would have been able to kill me if Hiram’s interrogator wouldn’t have stood in your way.”

 

“Could had been a possibility, after all I got you against the boxes, didn’t I?”

 

Corvo stared at him in dark way, and even he didn’t want to admit it, the Overseer had made him walked toward the metal boxes. But one thing was to make someone walk against a wall and another was to put a sword through them, and Corvo hadn’t been against the metal boxes when he had disarmed the man. So basically the Overseer would have been dead if he wouldn’t have moved behind the guards.

 

“But tell me Overseer, what brings you here? Surely you don’t want to talk about what could had happen or do you?” asked Corvo.

 

“Well, I wanted to see the face of the man that killed the Empress, you should hear all the things that they say about you, quite spicy and interesting too. They say you used black magic to hide Lady Emily Kaldwin and were in a rampage when you killed the Empress,” said the man. “And it is Overseer Martin.”

 

“I didn’t kill her,” said Corvo in a cold and sharp way. “And if I could use black magic, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, I can assure you that, Overseer Martin.”

 

“Oh, really? Then who did it?”

 

“Hiram Burrows. He was the one who sent the assassins after Jessamine,” Corvo said with spite in his voice.

 

“And why would he do that? Surely he would had a motives I guess,” said Martin sarcastically.

 

Corvo shrugged. “I really don’t know why, I hardly think he wanted power when he thought of getting rid of Jessamine, but he wanted to cover up what he done. That’s why he killed her, so she wouldn’t find out.”

 

“Find out? What exactly?”

 

“That he imported the rat plague,” said Corvo in a cold way.

 

“The rat plague?!” said Martin with skepticism. “Now that is something you don’t hear all the days, a traitor blaming the Lord Regent for something that comes from within.”

 

Corvo laughed, “You really believed that? That the plague comes from within us? Now that is something stupid Overseer Martin. Have you wondered why no one had taken the fall from the rat plague so far? Because he was the one that brought it, and when she was about to find it out, well he needed to get rid of her,” the Overseer didn’t say anything. “If not, you tell me why would I had kill her?”

 

“I don’t know,” he said. “Power maybe? Maybe you were tired of being Lord Protector and being so close to real power, well you decided to make your own path to it.”

 

Corvo busted in laughter. “Now that is something spicy. Let me tell you something Overseer Martin, for what I can see you are lowborn, just like me. So would you really think I would like to have to deal with the bunch of arrogant bastards that are the noblemen and fair ladies of this city? Do you really think that I would have wanted that? You know how they look at people like us, they think they are better, superior in a way but they are the same shit that most commoners. Why would I have wanted that?”

 

“I don’t know, but how could you say I’m lowborn, maybe I’m highborn,” said Martin looking straight at Corvo’s dark eyes.

 

Corvo laughed again. “Don’t make me laugh Overseer, you are low born just like me. If you were highborn, you would had corrected me from the moment I insinuated that you were lowborn. No noble would have waited for me to finish talking, they are arrogant and proud. And that’s why, even if I would had took power after Jessamine’s death, none of them would had bow to me. They would have never accepted me, so, what would be the point of even trying to do that? To think that I wanted to sit on the throne is just as stupid as to think that I would hurt her. When all these years I spend all my time watching her, protecting her, standing right behind her, like her shadow, because after all that’s what I’m, nothing but a shadow that always stood by the Empress side.”

 

“I see,” said Martin and walked forward. “Like a shadow you say. You know, there is an old pagan saying about shadows. It says, that the shadow is actually the one that moves the most beautiful and graceful body of them all, but everybody is always so absorb looking at the beautiful body that no one ever realized that all those graceful movements were made by the shadow. By the darkness itself, for it is something that no one ever looks at. I wonder if you ever did that Corvo.  As you just said, you were merely her shadow.”

 

Corvo looked at him in a dark and menacing way. “Shouldn’t you be going Overseer Martin? You know what they say, the Outsider walks among us and he likes to walk where death is, and there have been a lot of death here lately, of course unless you want to lose your soul by staring at his dark pitch eyes. And the city isn’t the same as it used to be. It’s dangerous now, you should go.”

 

Martin looked at Corvo but couldn’t really see him, as the man had remained all the time behind the shadow that was cast inside his cell. He could just see the gleam in the eyes of the Serkonan. Those cold and dark eyes looking at him did resembled the eyes of the Outsider or how they were described in old texts, dark and empty eyes staring through the shadow. If he hadn’t known, that indeed, the man was there he could have assured that he had melt down in shadows just like the stories he had heard regarding the former Royal Protector. He started walking away and then he stopped. “I’m sure we will meet again, Corvo. But if not, it was a pleasure.”

 

Corvo looked how the man walked away and then walked toward the small window of his cell and looked at the sky. It was a sober night with some starts that were out. He gave a sigh and imagined how it should be if things hadn’t got so mess up, if Burrows hadn’t killed Jessamine. Fireworks of different colors and shapes should be exploding in the sky. He wouldn’t be there, it should be Burrows or maybe the man would have been dead by that time. And he would be in Dunwall Tower with Jessamine and Emily. He would be wearing his full dress uniform, completely black that show off more the golden details it had, probably he would had his hair in a baby grand and would be standing next to Jessamine that would be wearing a gala dress. He could easily imagine her, with a soft blue dress and the diamond crown she used for those events. Emily would also be there wearing any of her dresses, probably a soft pink one and she would be performing her courtesies each time a noblemen or women would arrive and present themselves to the Empress and the heir to the throne. Of course there would be banquet, for no party would go without one. There could had been a couple of foreigner noblemen, but Corvo was almost sure that if that would be happening he would had met with Lord Resnik, who probably would had brought news from Serkonos and their advance regarding ‘the cure’ for the rat plague. There would also be children there. It would be one of the few times that Corvo wouldn’t mind having to pass time with the nobility of Dunwall as he knew that his daughter would have been happy, enjoying all that would be there for her. But he was in a bloody cell in Coldridge, Jessamine was dead and Emily… Emily probably was scared and alone. Alone in a day that she shouldn’t be, in a day in which she should be dote on. Corvo looked at the sky one more time and cursed Burrows again, then he walked toward his bed and lay down, he took the two pills the medic had left him and swallow them. He hoped that at least the pills would let him sleep without dreams and that he wouldn’t feel anymore the incompetence he was feeling for not being able to escape that day. He looked at the concrete ceiling before he started falling sleep and simply said.

 

“Happy birthday Emily, where ever you are,” he said and fell asleep.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Coldridge prison was a massive building, which seen from afar seem like a great monolith, sober and dark. Corvo knew the architecture of that place by heart as when he had arrive and been appointed as Royal Protector, he had study the prison and learned every single detail of it, just as he knew the Tower like the back of his hand. He knew that the prison hold one hundred and fifty cells, that were distribute in five blocks. Each block containing a different numbers of cells, the A and C block were close to one another and hold regular criminals. The B block was the solitary wing, which wasn’t that isolate even though there were only ten cells there, the prisoners could speak to one another. The block D and E hold the criminals that were jailed for life and therefore were in the back of the building. Also the prison had a basement where the barracks and the kennels were located. The small hospital wing and the dining room were also located in the basement, alongside the armory, from the basement one could reach any part of the prison and the sewers. Also Corvo knew that the walls that surrounded the prison were too high for any man to try to climb them by hand, though there were some pipes that ran alongside the walls that could be easily climb. Yet Corvo knew there was a huge difference between being outside the cells from where one could walk as one desire and being behind the bars.

 

He had always wonder why Coldridge prison had been located next to the Dunwall Tower, he had always find it strange and had even commented it with his second in command when he had first seen the Tower, before he had been appointed as Lord Protector. He had thought that Gristolans were strange men, as they seemed fit that the prison would be next to the Emperor’s residence. But after studying the place, he had concluded that trying to break in from outside was impossible, so if the city would be under attack it would be expected that the Emperor would be moved to the prison, as a secure measure. As for the criminals inside, well he knew first hand, that even if they did manage to escape their cells and reach the main door they would still need help to break free, it was also difficult to try to escape that bloody place, he knew they would need help of some sort, either a friend that would open the door or that it would provide another way out.

 

Yes, they would need help, just as much as he needed it. Help that he had wait to receive for the past four months and a half since he had been told he would get it. Help that didn’t seem to arrive, help that seem now like an empty promise. He had waited for it as he had tolerate the mockeries and insults of the guards and their few abuses, as they had learn quite quickly to better not tried anything on him, as he had show them that even in chains he could be deathly. Corvo had kill or harm more than a guard when they had tried to soft him before the interrogations began, but he had prove them to better leave that to the Royal interrogator. Corvo had waited for a help that he had began wondering if it have not been a trick of the now Lord Regent, Lord Hiram Burrows, to have him stay put and not try to escape anymore. A little voice in his head had told him that it could be something like that, just a trick, that Burrows knew that eventually if Corvo had continue trying to escape the would had succeed and that maybe he had him told that lie so he would remained there. Corvo wondered if it had been truly wise to listen to the medic instead of trying to escape each time he had the opportunity. He hoped that the man was truly a Serkonan that had delivered an encrypted message to Corvo and not simply a pawn in Burrows game, yet he couldn’t be sure of any. And even though he had thought again in trying to escape the security measures had been improved since his sixth attempt of escaping, a small grill was added to his cells so his meals would be slip through it and no actual guard would opened the door and he wouldn’t get an opportunity to escape, and not only that but also what the guards like to call ‘the double safe’, which consist in a guard in each end of the corridor and a couple of guards in the next area, always making rounds. At least Corvo had to admit that they were afraid of him and that somehow flatter him. Yet he knew that the only time in which he could tried to escape was when he was brought into interrogation, but there were far too many guards for him to take with no weapon and he knew he would need help of any kind for him to break free. So he could only hope that Serkonos hadn’t really abandoned him, that they would send help, any type of help.

 

Corvo couldn’t be sure they would be sending help or wouldn’t. He still held hopes as he knew that what he had proposed to the Duke had been far too good to be thrown away. But of course, he had never imagined that he would end up in prison, and less sentence to death, that might change the perspective of the Duke and might even let him rot and die away in Coldridge. He knew that they wouldn’t go to open war just for one man, a man that even though he had held great power, he had lost it when the Empress had died. If he had been Emperor Consort probably Serkonos would had send aid, but if that would had been the case, he wouldn’t had been there in the first place. Sometimes Corvo cursed his decision of not accepting that proposition of Jessamine, but having to deal with the noblemen and having to pretend that he cared about the city had always make him decline it.

 

It had been six month since Corvo had been labeled traitor and the people of Dunwall wanted to see his head roll. It had been six month since Corvo had lost everything. He lost his golden opportunity to do whatever he had wanted to with the Empire, he had also lost the women he loves the most. He had lost Jessamine and would never get her back and he had lost Emily, whom he didn't know where she was or even if she was still alive. Though that was a thought that Corvo had forbade himself to even consider, he knew that Burrows needed Emily, sooner or later he would need to present Emily or the nobles would become restless and the claims of whom would become the new ruler of the Empire would soon arise. Yet he didn't know where Emily was as Burrows hadn't given the slightest hint of where his daughter could be.

 

Corvo knew that the time for him to get any aid, if it was truly coming was running out. He knew he didn’t had any time left, as for tomorrow he would be executed, he just hoped that if truly Serkonos was going to send any help it would be that day or they could be sure that their friend would be beheaded. Corvo also knew that the most time that was given to interrogation were six months which meant that his time had come to an end. He knew that Burrows time to get a confection had end, if he couldn’t make Corvo signed the confection that day. Suspicion would soon arise regarding the dead of the Empress, and more if a cure for the plague wasn’t found soon, as probably some would wondered if indeed the former Lord Protector had indeed murdered the Empress and not someone else like a foreigner power. At least Corvo was sure of something Burrows would never ask for help to Serkonos as he had never believed that the island could had the cure, he knew that at least if he would be executed the city would fall to pieces and rot, a thought that give him a smile from time to time.

 

Corvo passed his hand over his face and felt the unattended beard that had grown over the last six months of imprisonment. He knew that for tomorrows execution Burrows would had him clean up, so the nobles could recognized him. As his current appearance wasn’t at all pleasant to look upon, not only because his hair had grown alongside his beard but because his clothes were practically rags. He could tried to escape as soon as they tried to shave him, even with a small blade, like a shaving blade, he was sure he would be able to make it out of Coldridge. And if not, he could take some of those bloody bastards with him to the Void. Unless that was when his ‘friends’ would try to help him out, he hope that if that was true, that it would be easy for him to escape.

 

He heard his cell opened and turned to look at the door. They were there, one guard at the entrance with a pair of shackles, and two other guards behind him with pistols aiming at him. At least he had to admit that Burrows accepted that he was somehow dangerous and that he wouldn’t let him try to escape that easily. Corvo rose from what was supposed to be his bed and extended his arms, letting know the guard that he was ready to be taken to his interrogation. The guard didn’t say anything when he put Corvo the shackles on the hands and then he put another pair on Corvo’s feet’s. Corvo was sure that tomorrow if he would be quick enough he could knock out the guard and made a run to the cell door and deal with the other two guards and then try to escape, one last time. Of course he didn’t have a plan per se of what he would be doing, probably he would try to find Emily and get out of that damned city as soon as possible and let it fall to pieces. Let Burrows have it if he wanted it so much, Corvo couldn’t care less about Dunwall.

 

They make him walked toward the interrogation room, as he walked by he counted the guards and saw if they were in pairs or not, what weapons they were carrying and how easily distracted they could get by strange noises, as he kicked several object in his way. Corvo counted fewer guards than normal and most of them were lower rank City Watch officers, he only counted two officers, but of course some of them could be in the barracks or having breakfast in the dining room. He didn’t knew why he was counting them, he knew that he wouldn’t be breaking free, but he guessed that it was the only thing for him to do while he made his way toward the interrogation room. The guards lead the way through the lower floor, Corvo notice that only two guards were in the catwalk and weren’t even looking at him, he also notice that the entrance to the basement was unguarded, it was strange but he decided to better not let his hopes high as he knew that the chances of him getting any help were the same of him meeting the Outsider.

 

They reached the interrogation room and pushed him inside, he stumbled but remain on foot. Corvo simply glare at the young guard, the guard had been teasing him since he had been transfer to Coldridge, he didn’t seem to know with whom he was dealing and most of the guards had already told him to better leave Corvo alone, if not he could break his neck. Yet the young man had continue, and Corvo was getting sick of him, he stare at him. Corvo walked in front of the chair and looked at it.

 

“Couldn’t they clean it from last time?” he asked sarcastically.

 

“Shut up Attano,” said the younger guard, as he approach him. “You don’t even deserve that the Lord Regent interrogate you filth. They should had already hang you, and let the rats eat your corpse, after what you did to the Empress and Lady Emily.” Then he kicked Corvo on the back of his legs, making him lose balance and fell to his knees. It was in that moment that Corvo had enough, they had warned him and he didn’t listen to them, now he would learn the hard way. Corvo quickly turned around and got his arms around the guard and started strangling him with the chain, the other two guards turned when they heard the young one choking. One of the guards quickly grabbed Corvo and also started strangling him to make him lose his grip on the young man, the other guard noticed that Corvo wasn’t going to let go, he simply punched Corvo in the stomach, that took Corvo’s breath away and he let go the young guard. Corvo fell and before he could get up the two officers quickly tied him up in the interrogation chair.

 

“Are you alright Jeff?” asked one of the officer, to what the young guard simply nodded. “How many times we told you not to mess with him? How many? He could have killed you. Next time you try to do anything I will let him take you.”

 

Corvo looked at the man in the eyes and simply said in a cold tone. “You should had listen to them Jeff, you shouldn’t had mess with me. I’m going to kill you first as soon as I get out of this chair, unless your sweet Lord Regent is able to protect you.”

 

The guard looked at him and was about to hit Corvo when one of the officers stop him. “The Lord Regent want him unharmed, let him be, he won’t be able to do anything.” Corvo eyed both guards in a cold and dark way, but remained silence. The officer looked at him and then quickly turned away, but the guard looked at Corvo in defiant way, but eventually turned away.

 

They left Corvo alone in the room, he knew it was worthless to even try to set loose the bindings, as they were tight. They would only lose a bit until they had tortured him enough, when he had already twisted the arms far too many times and he was exhausted to try to do anything or was unconscious. He wondered what they would do to him that day. Would they try to drown him in the sink? Maybe hang him up from the shackles until the skin on his wrist started tearing off and his arms become bloody. Or they could turn him upside down while he was sitting, so the blood would rush to his head and then turn him again and get him dizzy. Or perhaps they would put the shackles and have several guards beaten him up, which never actually ended up well for the guards as he usually finished beating them to the ground. Or maybe they will take of his shirt and whip him several hours until there was enough blood on his back and had dripped down. He also thought that maybe they could use the favorite of Campbell, putting him in the middle of the yard in the shackles that were use in the Abbey to punish Overseers and any other person that would go for a trial of heretic and left him there for more than day. But he discarded that last one, since tomorrow would be when he would meet his end. There could also be the favorite of Burrows and that was using his interrogator, who likes to use red hot iron to brand him. Corvo had several new scars because of that, he was sure of one thing, that Jessamine wouldn’t had like them, even though she had always ask about his scars. She had always find them fascinating, yet Corvo had never told her the whole stories behind each of them, and he knew that even if she would had been alive, she probably wouldn’t like to hear the stories of his new ones. Corvo gave a sigh and heard the door opened.

 

Hiram Burrows and Thaddeus Campbell entered followed by the ‘Royal interrogator’ and the captain of the prison. Captain Carlew left a new audio card next to the audio graph machine made a bow and left.

 

“Corvo, it seemed you have recovered from our last interrogation,” said Burrows as he stood in front of him. “If you would sign the confession we could omit everything of this nasty business. But… even if you don’t sign it, it will really won’t matter after all you head will be rolling off your body tomorrow in the afternoon.” Corvo didn’t reply anything to Burrows, he simply stared at him with a cold and piercing look. “Well then, shall we begin?” said Burrows smiling back at Corvo.

 

-.-.-.-

 

Corvo opened his eyes, just to see the ceiling of the interrogation room, he saw the sign over it, ‘Order shall prevail’ he read, how many times had he read that sign in the last six months, too many he thought. His whole body ached and he could barely move, he smelled the soft scent of burn meat, his own flesh, as Burrows’ interrogator had been using a red hot crowbar to torture him for the last couple of hours. As soon as the interrogation had begun they had opened Corvo’s clothes, or what was left of them, and once the crowbar had been red hot the interrogator had began burning Corvo. The man had pressed the crowbar against Corvo’s sides and then had torn it off when he had felt that the skin had attached to the bar. Therefore Corvo didn’t just have nasty burned wounds but also those that had living flesh that were dripping blood. His whole body was in agony and trembled softly.

 

Corvo looked at Campbell that was in front of him, he could see Burrows at the desk, probably finishing the last details of the confession they wanted him to sign. The Gristolan looked at the Serkonan and could easily see his exhaustion, the younger man was breathing in slower and deeply way, yet his eyes were defiant and penetrating.

 

“This is your final chance, Corvo. Sign the confession and let me give you the rites to put your spirit at ease,” said Campbell in a condescending tone Corvo glared at Campbell and tried to move the hands. Campbell nodded and the royal interrogator approached Corvo with the red hot iron he had been using.

 

Corvo opened his eyes and saw how the man pressed the iron against his left side, he screamed in pain as he contorted on his seat. He gasped and breathed heavily as soon as the man had retired the crowbar, he was far too tired to suppress the scream. Corvo had to admit that every time they tortured him with the red hot iron it exhausted him faster than any other method. Maybe that was why they were using it that day, so he would simply signed the confession or to exhausted him so he wouldn’t try anything the day that would follow and he would be easy to handle. He looked up and saw how Burrows approached Campbell and then he talked to his subordinate.

 

“That’s enough for now, wait outside Morris we will call you once we need you again,” said Burrows, Corvo was relief; he knew at least that he wouldn’t be tortured anymore with the hot iron, at least for a couple of minutes. A part of him was glad for it. “Get out. Let’s give the man some time to think.” Both men that stood in front of Corvo watched how the big man left the room. Once they were left alone with Corvo Burrows continued. “I have to admit Corvo that you have been the man that had turned out to be most difficult to break down. It didn’t matter all the torture I put you through, you never broke, that is something extraordinary I may said, I only wonder what type of training they make you go through in Serkonos that you could withstood so much. If you would have been under my command and follow orders of course, imagine all we could have done for this Empire. But you choose to remain by her side instead of mine, such a foolish decision and for that is that you are here,” said Burrows as he had walked through the room, then he looked again at Corvo. “The Empress is dead, her daughter Emily is hidden away, and no one will ever know the truth, it didn’t matter that you actually screamed it the first whole month, no one believed you, such a sad thing,” he said with a bit of satisfaction in his voice. Corvo looked up at Burrows, so Emily was alive, that was relief, at least now he knew she was alive.

 

“Yes, unlucky you. Tomorrow you’ll be executed, but it’s for a good cause. This country needs strong leadership now, someone to guide the weak, and that’s where we come in. With the Empress death, finally this great Empire will rise to what it is supposed to be.”

 

“There was nothing personal in this,” said Burrows with a small smirk in his face, Corvo stared at his eyes and knew it had been a delight for Burrows when Corvo had been blame for Jessamine’s dead, as he had killed two birds with a single stone, all knew there was little love between the Spymaster and the Lord Protector. “Even though you almost sank your plans. But it turned out well. You were at the wrong place at the right time, and someone had to take the fall,” he said with delight in his voice. “And lucky for us it was you, if not, knowing you, you would had started to become a bother as you would had tried to find anything about Lady Emily’s whereabouts. And probably would have started digging and messing around trying to find a lead to find that spoiled girl. But you are here and we don’t have to really worry about you anymore, after all you killed the Empress, and for that you will pay with your life. So, goodbye Corvo,” he said smiling in an evil way to him.

 

“I had cursed you Hiram, and I will make sure that curse become true,” said Corvo gaining the attention of both men. “I’m going to make sure your lives turned into a living nightmare and made you beg for death, and I will make sure you both die in the most agonizing way possible. Even if I have to come back from the same Void, I will tear you apart and will drive you crazy. I will make sure you wished you were seeing the eyes of the same Outsider before you die instead of mine,” said Corvo in a cold and deathly tone.

 

Both men stared at his dark empty brown eyes, they knew he wasn’t lying. That look wasn’t human, that look was of a predator that had just decided who will be his next victims. Burrows felt how his blood ran cold, while Campbell simply looked at him.

 

 “You won’t be able to do that, you will be dead by tomorrow night,” said Campbell trying to convinced himself.

 

Corvo simply looked at them, smiled in a cruel way and laughed in a cold and sadistic way making the High Overseer and the Lord Regent feel panic in the first time since they had become the leaders of the Empire. Both men hurried outside the room, Burrows looked at the Captain Calrew and simply said. “Make sure he stay put until tomorrows execution.”

 

The Captain nodded and watched how both men walked away in a hurry pace, then he turned and looked how the guards were dragging Corvo out of the room, who could barely stand up, he wondered what could the Serkonan had told them that it make them ran away in that way.


	7. Chapter 7

Jessamine was looking at Corvo, she was standing not far from him. She was wearing a long skirt of a light blue color, with silver flowers at the end of it. She was wearing a vest that was of a soft grey color and had silver buttons; the silk shirt was under it. Over the vest she wore a coat long to her thigh and in the back part was longer, with flower decoration in the edges of the coat. She was also wearing the medallion that had the Kaldwin crest. She was wearing her silver hair pin, instead of the crown, but she had her hair held up. Corvo looked at her and walked quickly toward her, he embraced her and then kissed her, she was warm and he could smell her perfume, he hugged her and didn’t want to let her go. He thought it had all been a horrible nightmare and that he had finally awoke.

 

She leaned against his shoulder and said softly. “You can’t give up Corvo, not yet, not now,” she broke the embrace and looked at his dark eyes.

 

Corvo stared at her. “I’m tired Jessamine, I just want to lay down and rest. I don’t want to leave you again.”

 

“You can’t do that, not yet, you have to find Emily, you have to find our daughter. She is alone and scare, she wants to see her father,” she grabbed his hand. “We will meet again soon and we will be together, but you need to find her and protect her, you can’t let her get lost in this city, if you do that, she will die. You can’t let that happen, promise me that.” Corvo looked at her and simply nodded. “Find her Corvo, we will meet again, I promise you that, but you need to find her and get out of here,” she said and closed her eyes.

 

“Jessamine! Jessamine!” he screamed as everything around began to fade.

 

“Jessamine!” cried Corvo but then he screamed in agony as he awake, he rose far too quickly from the concrete slab that he used as a bed, making the wounds caused by the hot brand to open again, he pressed his hands against his sides and laid down, cursing Burrows and Campbell in silence. He felt how his body shivered in pain, he wasn’t feeling well, he had nauseas and the agony he felt from every movement was overwhelming. Corvo took a deep breath and heard how a guard approached his cell. The grill opened and the tray was slid under it. His last meal had arrived, he rose slowly and stared at the officer of the City Watch that had left his meal.

 

“You should eat, Corvo. This meal comes from a friend,” he said and walked away.

 

Corvo heard how the man closed the far end of the corridor that lead to the shortest way to the main gate. Now he knew that just one side of the corridor had the ‘safe lock’. But what was the use to know that, he wasn’t going to get out anytime soon. Then he remember what the guard said, a friend had send the meal. A friend? He wondered, could it be? Could it be that finally the aid he had hope for had finally arrive. Corvo watched the metal tray in which they usually deliver his food. He looked at it, at least it was bread which mean that there wouldn’t be any ‘secret ingredient’ that sometimes the guards like to add to his meals. Corvo guessed that it would be a rancid dried piece of bread but he was surprised when a soft smell of newly baked bread filled the cell. He walked to it and grabbed it, it was crunchy on the outside and soft and warm in the inside. He smell it, it smell delicious better than anything he had ate in the past six months. He gave a sigh of delight and bite it. It was so good that he momentarily forgot where he was. He gave thanks to the Outsider for such a good piece of bread and then looked down at the tray. He saw a note and a key, Corvo pick up both and read the note as he finished eating the bread. He smiled and crushed the note in his hand and threw it backwards. He quickly grabbed his long coat that he used as blanket, he closed his shirt or what was left of it, alongside the vest and put on the coat.

 

He opened up his cell with a bit of difficult, when he felt the lock opening he grabbed the door as he knew how noisy they could be and letting it open wide could give away the fact that he was escaping. He opened the door slowly and silently, where could the weapons be? He didn’t saw any table near or armory closet. He walked toward the far end of the corridor that didn’t have any guards, there was just a table with a couple of coins left there, nothing more. He took the coins and walked silently to the other way after making sure that the metal door was sealed. He by pass some prisoners that simply wished him good luck, some even encouraged him to kill the guards, but he really didn’t need encouragement for that. Before the block’s door there was a table that had a sword over it, Corvo grabbed it, it wasn’t his sword. It had been foolish from his part to think that they would had let his sword in that place, a sword so fine as his was probably already in the hands of a man of Burrows. The sword that he found was a simple City Watch sword, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t made with Tyvian steel or had a perfect balance, that sword was what it simply was, a sword that simply server to cut through people and it would do the trick to help him get away.

 

Corvo took a deep breath before moving on. He didn’t felt anymore exhausted or with physical pain due to the wounds that he had on his sides, he felt fill with vigor and energetic, and he knew one thing for sure as he walked quietly toward the block’s door he was getting away this time.

 

Corvo sneaked behind the guard that was directly at the entrance and recognized him, he smiled cruelly and put his hand in the mouth of the guard and then said in the low whisper. “I told you I will kill you first Jeff. You shouldn’t had mess with me.”

 

The young guard tense when he felt the hand on his mouth and tried to scream but just felt how the long blade cut his throat, Corvo quickly grabbed the falling body and put him over his shoulder, then he walked toward his cell and throw in the dead body under the table where he had found the sword. He sneaked again to the entrance of the long corridor and waited. He knew that the guards would eventually notice that their companion was missing and instead of going for more guards they will go to the cell block. He knew pretty well they will do that, after all he had seen them done that first hand. Corvo had killed one of the guards that had bother him before and had noticed that it took whole ten minutes for the other guards to notice that there was something strange, that there companion hadn’t returned. That time they had found the body in front of Corvo’s cell and had demanded an explanation to what Corvo had simply said that the man had stumble and hit his head against the table and break his neck, that it had been odd. The guards hadn’t believed that but they really couldn’t prove that it had been Corvo as he had been inside his cell the whole time.

 

Corvo hide behind a metal layer and waited for one of the guards, he heard how one told the other that he was going to make sure Jeff wasn’t messing around with Corvo. Corvo saw how the man by pass him and walked to where the blood had started to appear and before he could call upon help, Corvo was already over him he stab him in the chest and broke his neck with a quick movement. He pulled the sword out of the body and threw the body under the table. He took the pistol he was carrying and waited for the last one of them to appear.

 

“Jeff? Tim?” Corvo heard the other guard calling out from the hallway. “This isn’t funny guys, a joke is a joke, you had your laugh now come out!” He could hear the desperation in the guard voice but also the fear. Corvo heard the guard cursed and walked into the cell’s block, Corvo quickly moved from his hiding place and with three kicks he killed the man. Corvo quickly searched him and found what he was looking for, the basement key. From there he could move more freely and get to the interrogation room without being spotted or even he could try to get to the sewers and get lost. He took the bullets that the guard was carrying and moved toward the basement.

 

Corvo sneaked into the basement in complete silent, he walked around stopping in each corned waiting to hear any guard or waiting to hear the alarm coming from the floor below, that would indicated that they had notice his seventh attempt to break free. But he didn’t hear anything. He reached the hospital wing but was locked, there was a small note that said that the doctor wouldn’t be there until sundown, and there were also something written behind it in Serkonan, it said that there was a gift in the interrogation room, but it was crossed out and seem to be of an old text, as if what it was written in the back had been just there, but Corvo knew that wasn’t necessary true, either ways he would had to go to the interrogation room. The barracks and dining room were also empty, thing that made Corvo happy, less guards would mean a greater chance to get out. He stopped when he passed by the kennels, he heard a guard trying to calm down the wolfhounds, Corvo quickly searched for an armory closet, he knew that if they noticed that he had escaped they would send the hounds after him and how much he hated those animals. They had already bitted him more than ones, he find what he wanted, took it and opened in complete silence the door.

 

The wolfhounds looked at him and began growling and throwing themselves into the cages, trying to get Corvo. The guard that looked after the hounds approached the cages and tried to calm down the animals, Corvo simply walked behind the man and quickly cut his throat. Then he took out the grenade that he had and threw it at the cages, he made his way outside when he heard the animals whining and the explosion.

 

Corvo reached the door that would let him reached the sewers from within the prison he tried to opened it but it was closed, he looked around trying to find the key, when he saw a note in the desk that was closest to it. He read it, it said that the door had been closed as the water levels had been rising, it appears that weepers and some bodies were blockading the exit of the sewers and therefore, it had been closed and would be opened again once a team had been send to deal with both the bodies and the weepers. Corvo simply cursed his luck, which means that he would truly need to do as his ‘friend’ said. He headed to the interrogation room get the explosives and blow the main gate, Corvo had thought that maybe he would had been able to escape without actually letting them know, but it appeared as it wouldn’t be like that after all. He walked to the upper floor and made his way to the interrogation room and peaked through it, the area seemed deserted. He opened the door and started walking to the main floor when he heard a guard complaining how boring everything was at the moment, Corvo looked up, he knew that there weren’t any hiding places in that yard and if the two guards that were in the catwalk would turned down they would see him, the door to the interrogation room was in the other side of the yard. Corvo hesitated but finished making his way back and decided that he would take the catwalk and get rid of those two guards instead of letting them see him.

 

It had been easy to get in the catwalk, it had been even easier to kill the first guard, he had jumped over him, cut his throat even before he had been able to say something. Corvo pulled his sword from him and ran to the other guard, who hearing the noise turned around to see Corvo approaching him at high speed.

 

“Bloody Void!” was all the man was able to said before Corvo reached him, stab him in the arm and then threw him through the catwalk making him smash his head against the concrete floor. Corvo looked down at the man and saw the pool of blood, indeed it was the bloody Void.

 

He finally reached the control room that was in the catwalk, he stopped to rested for a couple of minutes, he looked through the windows and saw the patio that connected the prison to the main access. But before the main access there were three security points, he just hoped that any of Sokolov’s machines hadn’t been installed, if not, well he knew they could quickly killed him. Corvo took several deep breathes and cleaned the sweat from his forehead, he thought he could rest a bit more when he heard the prison announcement of the shift change. That announcement was made an hour before the shift change, which mean that he would needed to get out of Coldridge before the hour was over, if not it would be bad news for him. He moved from the table and took a deep breath, he looked again at the control panel, there wasn’t much for him to do, except open up some doors, which he did.

 

As he made his way through the last part of the catwalk he heard two more guards. He couched and hid, he saw how one of the guards by pass him and walked to the looking point of one of the patios, the other guards didn’t looked at him and started walking toward the control panel. Corvo sneaked behind him, put his hand on his mouth and quickly cut his throat, he let the body fell, and ran toward the officer, who turned just to see Corvo running toward him and cut his throat. Corvo pant as he saw the corpse of the officer, he bent down and searched him, he took the key set and began to make his way to the last part of the catwalk that would lead him to where the interrogation room was. He heard a guard whistling in the lower yard, he peaked and saw a low rank guard of the City Watch. Corvo jumped over the rail of the catwalk and fall over the man. He had impaled him with the sword, he pulled it out and made his way to the interrogation room. Corvo opened the door to the hall of the room and walked it quickly. He stopped death at the door of the room, he wondered if they could be carrying out an interrogation of a prisoner, it wouldn’t be good that he walk into it. Corvo peaked through the key hole and didn’t see anything, he opened the door slowly and then entered the room.

 

Corvo could clearly see that it hadn’t been clean since they had used it with him in the morning, he walked toward the desk and quickly searched it, there wasn’t much, no, explosive or anything at all. He looked around and saw the door to the small deposit that the interrogation room had. He entered it and saw the safe, he walked toward it and opened it. There it was the explosives, it was quite simple and could be activate even more easily, it has a clock that set the time for the explosion. He put it inside his coat and looked around to see if he would be able to find something useful, among the shelves he found a package, wrapped in dark brown paper, it had a note attached to it written in Serkonan. Corvo read quickly the note, it was from the medic of the prison, it explained that he wouldn’t be able to heal his wounds as he had wanted, and that he would be leaving the city, as probably they would hunt him down. It also said that he wished him luck and that he did find the ‘friends’ Serkonos had send him and not die trying. The package contained several bandages and some antibiotics and disinfectants, with some pain killers. Corvo quickly took off the coat, vest and shirt and in the sink that had the small room he cleaned the wounds the best he could and then quickly apply the disinfectants and antibiotics and bandage himself the best he could. He made them be tighter and had several layers. Then he put on the clothes and destroyed the note. Now Corvo knew that somehow Serkonos had indeed orchestrated his escape, how or by what means, it eludes him, but maybe they had made a deal with this so call ‘friends’ but he knew that before making any conclusion he did need to get out of Coldridge.

 

He walked through the first of the three control points that he needed to pass, it was empty and there wasn’t anything useful for him to get so he simply walked into one of the yards of the prison and kept moving. He heard a guard whistling in the second post, he waited to see how many of them were when they started talking.

 

“So the execution is tomorrow?” said one of the guards. “Wonder how difficult could it be to see it. I bet is going to be the event of the month at least.”

 

“Yes,” said the second guard. “But only high rank officers and certain nobles will be there, lucky for me I have to patrol the outer wall, so I will be able to see how the head of that bastard fall off his body.”

 

“I will love to see that Serkonan dog put down, finally he will be where he belongs, in the filth. He never deserved the position of Royal Protector.”

 

“I agree with you,” said the second guard. “Probably if the Empress would have chosen a Gristolan she would still be alive. Stupid woman.”

 

Corvo gritted his teeth and grabbed strongly the sword. “I really didn’t like her that much, I guess that she got what she deserved and he will get also what he deserved, hopefully with the Lord Regent things will get better.”

 

“Yes, surely,” said the second guard. “After all ruling an Empire is a man jobs not a woman’s.”

 

That was when Corvo had enough of the chat of the guards, he came out of hiding and in a quick movement was over a guard and impale him with his sword. The other guard turned and looked at him, and before he could say anything Corvo was over him and had the edge of his pistol against the guard’s throat and shoot him. The guard fell to the ground without half of his throat, Corvo simply cursed them, like if they would had been able to rule an Empire better than she had. He turned around and walked to the next control point.

 

Corvo felt suddenly heavy and weary, he leaned against the arch of the door as he peaked and see the two guards talking, the final control point, he had just go through the last yard. The yard where the Royal interrogator had broke his hand, but that didn’t matter. Corvo took a deep breath and quickly moved behind a metal layer and hid. There were some pipes next to him, he looked at them and realized he could easily climb them and pass the blockade door and finally reach the main door. He wondered how much time he still has left. He was tired no doubt about it and he needed to receive the proper medical attention. As he took a moment to rest and regain some strengthen as he knew that getting into the sewer will only be the first real part of his escape, probably they will send several teams after him and he would need to get rid of them. So getting out of Coldridge was really just the beginning.

 

“You are going to be there, aren’t you sir?” said the guard. “You are going to be there when the Serkonan’s head roll off?”

 

“I really doubt it, I think only high rank members of the City Watch and noblemen will be there. And I really don’t look forward to be there,” said the officer.

 

“Why not Lieutenant, I thought you said you never like him,” said the guard.

 

“I might not have like him, but I do respect him. He… He was a formidable sword master,” said the Lieutenant. “And to tell the truth I hardly believe that he actually killed the Empress.”

 

“How can you say that sir,” said the guard. “I just don’t understand it?”

 

“Well, Roth, I spend most of my time in the guard of the Tower, and I had never seen such a devote man to his duty or to the Empress. The way in which they used to walked and act around each other… I hardly think that he would had kill her or hurt Lady Emily. What I think is that maybe a foreigner power did it, all of it. And maybe the Lord Regent hadn’t been able to see it because of everything that is happening in the city. I guess is pretty difficult to try to rule a city as Dunwall in its present condition, but I don’t think that the Lord Corvo would had actually kill her, but he was unable to save her.” Corvo knew that voice, it was the voice of the second in command of the Guard of the Tower. They had never got along, but they had managed to learn to respect each other.

 

“So you are saying that the Lord Regent is stupid or something sir?” asked the guard.

 

“By the Void no, I’m just saying that it seems logical to think that Corvo killed her. But I don’t think he did it, no… probably someone else, but not him. And the Lord Regent have to deal with far too many things to really look for the culprit of the assassination of the Empress, I mean the blockade is pretty bad and barely enough food is reaching the city. The same cities within Gristol are shutting down Dunwall, so simply implying that Corvo killed her seems logical. Maybe if the city wasn’t falling to pieces, maybe the Lord Regent would had realized that he didn’t kill her and would be using him to search for Lady Emily, but like I told you, running this city right now is far more important than really knowing if he is guilty or not.”

 

Corvo wondered if there were more men like the Lieutenant, thinking that maybe he wasn’t guilty but not really caring if he would be executed at all or not. Corvo pulled himself up quietly and stated climbing the pipes, he decided to leave those two alive. It wasn’t only because they had show some sort of respect toward him but because he was tired and needed to reach the sewer. He finished climbing the pipes and made his way through them. He looked at the main gate and felt not only the heaviness of the explosive but his heart racing, finally he would be able to escape. He jumped down the pipes and cut the throat of one of the guards that were there, the second one tried to reach the level that would open the door to the control point but Corvo stopped him. Then he walked toward the main door and set the clock in the explosive. He walked backward when he heard the door behind him opening he turned and saw the Lieutenant and other two guards looking at him. But before Corvo could run toward them the main door blew in pieces. Corvo looked straight at the Lieutenant’s eyes and then made ran for it, jumping into the river.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Corvo moved his hair off his face as he reach the first door of the sewers, then he ran toward the second one, he knew he needed to reach the end of the area to really get into the sewers and be able to lose himself within them. He stopped in the area of the second door and looked around, giving thanks to anything or anyone that he had been able to escape, then he noticed that a new door had been added to the corridor that would lead him to the real sewers. Corvo looked around trying to find any key or something of the sort, something that would help him get into the maze of the tunnels, as he knew that probably the Lord Regent had already send teams to try to get him, although they could be trying to reach Coldridge, but Corvo knew that he couldn’t stay there for much longer, if he did that, he knew he would end up again in prison.

 

Corvo looked around the place, moved some boxes, trying to find a key or maybe a small opening from which he could made his way toward the tunnels but he didn’t find anything, he looked at some boxes that were stock one over the other and saw what seemed to be a piece of paper, he grabbed it and opened it. To his surprise it was a note from his ‘friend’, he read it quickly. He wondered who this man really was and if he would truly be just one? Probably it wasn’t just one man, but a group of people that didn’t get their share when Burrows took over, there wasn’t any other explanation. Probably they were Gristolans that didn’t get anything and so had cook up a plan of some sort that need him and would try to get something in return. As he knew that no man, military or nobility, would do anything for free in Dunwall, and he was sure of one thing they weren’t commoners, if they would had been civilians they would had never been able to break him free. Unless, of course, that it turn out to be Serkonos the one paying for everything, but Corvo doubt it very much, especially after what the medic had told him, not that Serkonos wouldn’t help him, but it would be in the shadows not directly, Corvo just hope that he would know something soon from his homeland before anything set into motion.

 

Corvo reread the note, then he started laughing at it, he sat down and pressed his hands against his face, he couldn’t stay there much longer, but where was he suppose to go? The note said that they had stash him some gear deeper in the sewers, but deeper where? Not to mention that it said that he should find Samuel, whoever that man was, in ‘where the tunnels dump into the river.’ Didn’t these men know that the sewers dump into the river every kilometer more or less? And that they went below the whole city? Didn’t they knew that? Where was he supposed to go? It wasn’t as if it was just a straight road with some turns and he would magically come out where ever this man, Samuel, was. Corvo cursed his bad luck and decided to start imitating some rats that were climbing some pipes, he couldn’t stay there, movement was vital to keep him alive, and that was what he was going to start doing, he just hoped that he would be able to find the gear and the man, they had send for him, or at least that he would be able to lose the City Watch in the sewers.

 

He started crawling over the pipes, he pressed his hand against his left side, and bit his lip as he pulled himself up and tried to think in another thing rather than the pain he was feeling in his left side caused by the burn wounds. Corvo guessed that they must have open as he had climb up. He was about to jump off the pipes and into the area below and enter the main sewers when he heard voices coming from the sewers. He waited and in a few seconds two guards entered the corridor in which he was.

 

“Hurry up!” said a guard with a privateer uniform. “He could be anywhere.”

 

“Calm down kid, there is no need to rush,” said the other guard.

 

“No need to rush?! You know where we are, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, I know. We are in the bloody sewers, it seems to me that it is you the one that doesn’t know where we are. This isn’t the bloody Estate District, these are the sewers. Which are by far worse than the Flooded district. To think that I had just got promoted from there and now I’m down here with you, in a place fill with crap, rats and weepers… I still don’t know why I came down here with you.”

 

“Because General Tobias asked us to come down.”

 

“No, you volunteered us, I was perfectly fine watching the entrance, but you wanted to come and see if you could find Corvo down here, foolish kid.”

 

“Really? Imagine what it will be once we capture him! We will be heroes!”

 

“Don’t fool yourself, if we encounter him, better pray that he doesn’t kill us.”

 

“What is so impressive about him? He is Serkonan, and they are just merchants and whores down there, I don’t see what is the big deal about this Corvo.”

 

“He was the bodyguard of the Empress and the best sword master I had seen, and I once saw him take three guys in the practice yard as if nothing. He is a whirlwind, I would rather return and face the anger of the Lord Regent than face that man.”

 

“Nonsense,” said the young man. “I’m sure I would be able to defeat him.”

 

“Now I really wish that he appear. Yet he could be here, just watching,” said the older guard and looked around.

 

Corvo pressed himself against the pipes and then heard a strange noise, in the pipes that where in front of the ones he was laying on, he saw how several rats had began to descend. But they weren’t just regular rats, those were plague rats, rats that were bigger and like to eat a lot. Corvo frown and began to move slowing trying not to call attention to himself, being where he was would only give advantage to the rats and he didn’t need to fight against the rats and the two guards. He just needed to reach the end of the corridor and get down. He stopped moving and hide behind other pipes as he saw some of the rats stopped and started smelling the air, but the one that seem to be their leader, a big black one, with dark eyes jumped on top of one of the guards. Corvo heard them screaming and the other rats started jumping from the pipes and others descend and started climbing them and began eating them alive. Corvo looked into another direction and kept crawling he reached the end of the pipes and jumped down, he looked backwards just to see how the guards where still fighting with the rats and how one of them turned to look at him and tried to walk to where he was but the black rat began to eat his eyes, then it looked at Corvo and squeaked. Several rats looked at him, it was in that moment that Corvo realized that they were thinking in eating him alive, he ran outside and into the sewers. He jumped over the rail and grabbed a chain and quickly slid down. He looked up to see how some of the rats where starting to descend through the chain.

 

He landed in a metal beam and jumped into the other one and then grabbed a chain, he began swinging himself and looked down. A channel of the sewers was below him, he could dive into it, yet he didn’t know how deep it was, he hoped that it would be deep enough for him to dive and swim to the other side. He jumped, the current was strong but he was able to reach the other side of the channel and pulled himself up. He coughed and looked at the other side, the rats where looking at him, trying to find a way to get where he was. Corvo took out his gun and was about to shoot them, but then he remember that he didn’t knew if there were more guards or weepers in the area. So he grabbed several crumbs and threw them at the rats. One hit the big black one, who squeaked and looked at him, then it began climbing again the chains, making its way toward where they had left their bounty. Corvo finally caught his breath when he saw the last of them disappeared. He looked around and noticed that he was just a few meters away from the sewer entrance of Dunwall Tower. He walked toward it and grabbed the iron bars. It wouldn’t be that difficult to get into the Tower, he knew it by heart but… But they knew he had broken free and probably they were planning to send more guards to the sewers if the two guards didn’t return soon.

 

Corvo cursed his bad luck and wished that the door to the sewers in Coldridge wouldn’t had been lock, if it had been open, he would had been able to make his escape unnoticed. But now the whole city will know about it, meaning that probably they would be waiting for him in the Tower. He thought of throwing a piece of cloth, hide it in one of the vents of the path to the Tower, but then thought that if he did that, he could give them something to use to track him down. He looked around and saw a crowbar, he could use it to close the door or at least jam it. Corvo did the best he could with it, then he made his way up the channel.

 

He wondered how long had he been wandering around the sewers, when he had jumped into the river it had been probably fifteen minutes or maybe twenty before the change of shift, which mean that it would be before six o’clock. Before it would turn dark, he wondered if they wouldn’t search for him in the night or if they would try to find him. He stopped to clean the sweat of his brow and rest a bit, he sat down and looked at the pipes above his head, he saw some of them leaking and a rat walking over them. The rat stopped and looked at him, it started sniffing the air in his direction and then ran away. Corvo laughed softly.

 

“Yes, I know how I smell,” he said and he leaned backwards, against the wall of the sewer. He was tired and wanted to lie down and rest some time, but he couldn’t. Probably the City Watch had already unblock the door of Dunwall Tower and were tracking him down, trying to find him, yet he had gone through several channels and climb and descend several chains as he had made his way deeper into the sewers. But he was so tired and wasn’t feeling well at all, he had nauseas and was dizzy, not to mention the pain that some moments cause him. He just wanted to rest, to close his eyes for at least five minutes, but he knew that if he did that he would probably fell asleep and the City Watch could find him, or he could simply die there or a swarm of rats could eat him alive. Corvo really doubt that any weeper would try to do anything to him as probably they would believe that he would be death. He remember what Jessamine had told him about Emily wanting to see him so he got up and gave a soft grunt of pain and grabbed his left side. He gave a sign and began walking again, he reached a fork and heard some noises, it sounded like a man weeping, moaning in agony.

 

“A weeper,” he told himself and walked into the other direction. He stopped again and looked around, he looked at another fork and looked at where a plaque had been, all the plaques that used to had the names of the streets under which the sewers ran had been removed by an Emperor previous to the Kaldwins, since the man had believed that the spies of Morley made their way through the sewers following those plaque, maybe he had been right, but at the moment Corvo would had wished that the plaque had been there. He took the right turned and kept walking.

 

Corvo wondered where he could be going and if he was heading in the right direction, what if the gear stash for him had been just a few meters away from the main part from where he had started, in the other side of the channel? What if this Samuel, if he remembered correctly the name, had stop waiting for him and had left? He didn’t even knew where he was and trying to get to the surface on his present condition would be a terrible mistake, so he kept walking, every time going to the right, maybe he would be able to find the stash if he made his way toward Coldridge even if it was dangerous.

 

He finally reached a huge opening in which several channels let their water drop. There were several plague corpses, some in the white clothes that they were wrapped, and others simply laying there, with their own clothes, unwrapped, the stench that came from the stagnant water and the bodies was extremely revolting, Corvo had to cover his mouth to stop himself from throwing up, he looked at the sight, trying to find a way around it, there were several openings in the other side, so he would need to cross the whole cesspit to reach them, he looked again and realized that several of the corpses were far too rot. As he started walking around the cesspit he saw how several rats where eating the corpses, big and little, there was plenty food for all of them there, but it wasn’t fresh food, as probably he would be, he just hoped that they wouldn’t see him nor smell him.

 

The pavement in which he had been walking quickly submerges into the cesspit and the water level started raising as he walked around.  He started moving some of the corpses that were floating around him, once the water was at his waist level. He thought it was disgusting and wondered if Burrows really knew that the city was so chaotic or simply ignore it or pretend that it was just going through a small bump, he wondered if Jessamine had been alive if the bodies would had been dump into the sewers as well. As he moved the corpse he didn’t realized that the road ended and he sank deeply into the cesspit. He tried to pulled himself up but a weed had entangled in his foot, he started trying to pull himself up and as he moved, one of the bodies began to sank falling on top of him, Corvo pushed it, he saw how the guts started floating out of the body, some even started moving toward him as he moved the water around him. He finished pulling out the sword and cut off the weed that had entangled in his foot and pushed away the body, alongside the others that had started to sink as he had disturbed them. He gasped and grabbed a body that was still floating to keep himself afloat. Then he saw something strange in the body, it started moving and all of the sudden a rat emerge from within its thorax. It looked at him, it was completely covered in blood and pieces of guts, it squeaked angrily at Corvo.

 

Corvo pushed the body away and began to swam backwards, pushing the bodies that were in his way, until he reached the far end of the cesspit. He pulled himself up and quickly threw up, he clean himself and walked a few meters before falling on his knees.  He gasped and felt how his whole body trembled. As he was just sitting there he convinced himself that indeed he had been right when he had told Jessamine about burning down the bodies. He still remembered that night clearly, it seem as it had just been yesterday even though it had been eight months after the plague had broke in Dunwall.  But now it seemed as another life.

 

He had been lying on his back with his eyes closed, humming a Serkonan song as Jessamine had been kissing him on the jaw and neck. 

 

“We should burn them,” he had suddenly said. He felt how Jessamine had stopped kissing him and he had opened his eyes just to meet with her blue light ones, she had a couple of hair locks on her face.

 

“What?” she had said in surprised.

 

“We should burn them,” he had repeated. “The plague bodies, we should burn them.”

 

She gave a sigh and grabbed the sheet and covered herself as she laid next to him. “We have already discussed this Corvo, I’m not ordering that… Campbell even told you why we can’t do that and I’m not going against the Abbey.”

 

“If you wish to be able to rule over anything after this, then you should order the bodies to be burn, it’s not going against the Abbey.” He had said as he had brush her hair. “Is common sense, if you don’t want the disease to spread any further then, burn them. The rats will have less to eat and they might not be able to reproduce so quickly.”

 

“Or they could go wild and start attacking healthy people.” He laughed. “I’m serious Corvo, it’s not funny, can you imagine how people will be if that would happen?”

 

“No better if you don’t do something to control it, burn them.”

 

“Corvo please, you heard Campbell, if we burn them it would imply that their souls needed to be purify because they were in league with the Outsider. Doing that would make the people go against one another, they would start calling heretics anyone that get the plague and killing them out of terror, not to mention that some people would claim that that is a lie, that their families weren’t in league with the Outsider. Can you imagine how chaotic Dunwall would get?” she had said while looking at him.

 

“I have read in some of your history books that, the Emperor was able to burn bodies with forgiveness of the Abbey and that it didn’t cause chaos and that the citizens understood it pretty well, I don’t see the problem, if you tell the people to burn the corpses…”

 

“Yes, but that was in another time, when things were easier. Not to mention that probably there wasn’t the silly rumor that this is a curse of the Outsider…” she remained quiet for some time and then added. “Even though I want to follow your counsel, sometimes I have to follow others, even if they aren’t the best Corvo. I hope you understand that. And… what if the city caught fire? Have you think that it could happen that? With all the bodies the fire could go out of control.”

 

“If you are afraid that your Watch can’t control fire, then why give them Whale Oil, have you seen how volatile it is? I would be more afraid of that, and either case we are next to the river we could always escape to the river if the city caught fire”

 

“Sometimes I get the impression that you just want to see this city burn,” she had said.

 

He had laughed at her comment. “If I would have wanted to see this city burn down, believe me, I would have already done it.”

 

“When you said things like that, you scare me Corvo.”

 

“You know I would never do anything to hurt you or Emily.”

 

“But what about my city?”

 

He had remained silence for a couple of minutes before saying. “If I didn’t care about your city, well I wouldn’t be suggesting a way to get rid of the bodies, would I?”

 

“I guess so, but let’s not talk more about this, shall we. Tomorrow I have a long day in Parliament and I would rather rest.”

 

Corvo opened his eyes when he heard two voices over his head, he wondered how long had he fall asleep. He walked slowly toward the opening of the cesspit to just see the night sky and two lamps that were in the border of it.

 

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” said a first voice. “I think we should be getting them to the Flooded District.”

 

“You want to take them to the Flooded District, it’s a long way from here, and you know that, better toss them into the sewer, either ways they would be ending there too. And I would rather take care of them quickly, I don’t want to catch the plague.”

 

“Alright sir, but…”

 

“But what? Don’t you want to go home with your wife? I know I do… so don’t start with it, just help me…”

 

Corvo saw how some bodies began to fall from the opening of the cesspit, they landed with a heavy thud making the water move with violence, several rats squeaked and ran away. He gave a sigh and turned away, when he heard.

 

“Citizens of Dunwall, the assassin of our fair Empress, Corvo Attano, have escape custody and is on the loose. If you seen him, don’t try to apprehend him, go to your City Watch post and report any eyesight. Let the authorities deal with him, and remember the boldest measures are the safest,” said the announcement.

 

“I thought that by now they would have got him,” said the first voice.

 

“I don’t care, I just want to finish with this and be off,” said the second voice. “Is bad enough already, and now he is on the loose, I wonder if the city can get any worse.”

 

“What if he is here, just watching wanting to get us? I heard he used black magic to escape.”

 

“He used an explosive to get away, not black magic, and shut up, we have a job to finish.”

 

Corvo leaned forward. “Hey what’s that?” Corvo moved backward and fall to the ground, he managed to avoided the ray of light of one of the lamps and entered one of the sewers that dumped into the cesspit. “I think I saw something.”

 

“Nonsense, probably just a weeper, now help me finish this, this place give me the creeps I want to go home.”

 

Corvo looked up, and then he looked at the cesspit and walked into the sewer channel he had hide from the light and simply disappeared into the shadow.


	9. Chapter 9

 Corvo had almost missed the entrance to the place where the gear was hidden, he had been walking toward what he thought was Coldridge when he heard a couple of noises ahead. He entered a small corridor and waited there until he saw a couple of plague victims walking by, the woman started coughing and then cleaned her face, she began to cry deeply, the man stopped and looked at her, she showed him the blood on her hands. She had officially become a weeper, the man grabbed her and pulled her up and entered with her into another passage. Corvo decided that he couldn’t kept walking in that direction and kept walking into the small corridor he had enter, just to find a couple of wires. He looked around and with some effort he climbed up a metal catwalk and found a turrent that was connected to the first wire. He disarmed it and then climb down to find another turrent, he also disarmed it and walked back to the beginning of the area. He triggered the wire and walked toward the next one.

 

Corvo reached a small area that had a trunk and several bags, he quickly looked into them and finally opened up the trunk. Inside of it he found a crossbow and sword. The crossbow was small one, its load system wasn’t difficult, it seem to have a decent range distance and didn’t seem to make a lot of noise when being shot. There were a couple of darts left for him, he quickly took them and set them on the pouch that he had been carrying around. Corvo set the crossbow on his left side of the belt alongside the gun and hoped that it wouldn’t fall down. He took the blade and study it, it was retractile, which mean that it was a blade create by two sections of different lengths. He wondered if he could just take out a small portion of the blade instead of the whole, to his surprised he could. He extended the whole length of the blade and admired it, he had to admit it was a fine work. The blade was well balance and the mechanics that make it retractile was ingenious. But of course it wasn’t his sword that had been crafted specially for him, a gift from the Duke of Serkonos when he had been appointed as Lord Protector, yet it was an excellent job and he was sure he would get used to handle it. He passed it around his hand and then grabbed it, he like it. He was glad that he had found the weapons as he had lost the sword when he had fall into the cesspit and had set free his foot, as he had let it drop.

 

Corvo noticed a note that was under the weapons, he read the note and smiled, so they had been made especially for him? 

 

“That’s so flattering,” he said sarcastically as he kept reading. “True servants of the Empire? Sure thing.”

 

If they had been true servants of the Empire why help him just before he was about to get beheaded, why not before? But then again, it could be that until now that  Serkonos, if they were behind all this, had managed to get some friends here. He wasn’t sure who these friends or servants of the Empire would be, or if they were just saying that so that he would trust them and do whatever they were aiming for. Yet he didn’t have another place to go **.** He knew he needed a place to rest, a place where his wounds would heal and above all a place where he could plan his next move, of course he would first need to know these men and what were their intentions but mostly he assume that they were simply power hungry, he really doubt that they would really had any loyal and noble intentions. Also he would need to contact Serkonos, and therefore know if he could trust in any degree these men. That could be dangerous, but then again he had learn to play the dangerous game of politics in Dunwall, as much as he had learn to wield a sword, and if he had learned something in his life had been that all pests could be eliminated in a way or another.

 

Corvo took the key that was in the bottom of the trunk and opened the door to the next corridor. He guessed that that would be the way toward the man that these ‘Loyalists’ had send to pick him up was. He closed the door and kept walking, hoping that indeed he was going in the right direction, he was exhausted and the only thing that he could really thought of was a place to rest. He cleaned the sweat off his brow and leaned against a wall after walking for several minutes, he had lost all sense of time after he had wake up in the cesspit.

 

Corvo heard some guards on the other side of the tunnel, he walked silently toward them and hide behind some rubbles that were not far from them.

 

“Who are we hunting down here again?” asked the younger one.

 

“I have already told you, the traitor Corvo Attano,” said the other guard.

 

“Haven’t they already got him? I mean it had been already four hours and a half now,” said the first guard.

 

“Don’t worry is unlikely that he is anywhere around here, probably he is in the State District or the Flooded one, or even death in one of the sewer.”

 

“But what if he appears?” asked the guard. “What should I do?”

 

“Try to make a lot of noise when you die… let us know he is here…” said the second guard and walked away, laughing softly.

 

“Bastard,” murmured the first guard and looked around then he walked toward a small fired that was light.

 

Corvo moved from behind the rubbles, and walked behind the guard, he set his hand on the mouth of the guard and with a quick movement he cut the throat of the man. Corvo grabbed the man and set him gently on the floor, he walked toward where the other guard had gone. He knew that there would be some other guards, but he didn’t knew how many, he peeked and looked at them, there were three more guards.

 

“We should play a prank on Brian, it would be funny,” said the guard that had just arrive.

 

“As if we didn’t had anything to do at all,” said one of the guards.

 

“You really think we will find Attano here? It had been almost five hours since he escaped, probably he is already in another part of the city by now, and we don’t have anything else to do besides.”

 

“Go and scare that boy, but we won’t do anything, just make sure he wet his pants,” said another guard while they laughed softly.

 

Corvo returned to where he had left the guard and quickly sat it on the chair that was next to the fire and he went to hide again behind the rubbles. He heard how the guard returned after a couple of minutes, laughing softly.

 

“Oh, he is asleep this would be even easier,” said the guard as he approached his companion, Corvo moved from behind the rubbles and quickly stood behind the guard. The guard shook the death man on the chair while saying. “I’m here to murder you!” but the corpse just fell down the chair. “Oh, come on Brian! You can’t really have fainted, can you?” then he looked at his hand and saw all the blood. “What the…!” but he couldn’t finished the sentences as he felt a strong and piercing pain in the stomach he looked down and saw a sharp blade coming out of him cover on his own blood.

 

“Make a lot of noise while you die?” whispered Corvo into the guard’s ears. “It wasn’t really a very useful advice was it?” Corvo pulled out the sword and saw how the guard turned and looked at him, falling into his knees, he looked at him as the blood started coming out of his mouth. The guard tried to say something but Corvo quickly kicked him in the face and left him unconscious while he died.

 

 He walked toward the other two guards where and hide in the shadows and waited until one of them was alone and quickly took him out, then he killed the next one. Corvo looked at the death bodies, he couldn’t left them there, he knew that if another patrol would come and found them like that it will let them know that he was close by and he couldn’t let the guard know where he was. He dragged one of the bodies and quickly took off his belt and the weapons. He also took off the officer jacket and put the body among others that were in a small corridor not far from where the guards had been. He did the same with the other three, then he put off the fire and hope that it would look as if the guards had left their posts rather than been killed. Corvo walked a few meters more when he heard not far the cries of some birds. His heart began racing, he wondered would it be the place where this man Samuel, if he remember well enough the name, would be waiting for him. He made his way swiftly through the last part and finally came out of one of the spillway that dumped into the river.

 

It was dark, but Corvo’s eyes had already got used to the darkness, he looked up and saw the stars and the outline of the city of Dunwall. It was the first time that he was actually happy to see it, he was about to laugh when he heard some noises not far from where he was. He even saw two lamps, coming toward where he was, he quickly hide behind some plants and waited.

 

“I don’t see anything,” said a first voice. Corvo looked at the man holding the lamp, he was tall and thin and seem nervous to be there. “Nor hear anything, maybe it was your imagination.”

 

“I’m sure I heard something and saw something crawling out of that spillway,” said a second man, he was older by the tone of the voice, and shorter than the first one. “We have to keep looking, he has to be somewhere around here.”

 

Corvo frowned, he guessed that they would be looking for him, but where they members of the City Watch or could they be? He walked behind the thin man silently and took out his sword and in a quick movement had the edge of the blade at the man’s throat. The man made a strange noise of alarm, making the other man turn around.

 

“I think I found him…” was all that he said.

 

“Corvo, isn’t you?” said the shorter man with the lamp as he walked toward the two men that were simply standing, the light hit the blade in a way that it illuminate the dark eyes of the Serkonan. The man stopped walking and simply looked at the dark eyes that were staring back at him, they were empty and bottomless, cold and cruel. They looked like the same eyes of the Outsider, they were imposing. “We are friends, I’m Samuel, and that one is Piero, we worked for some good people who wants very much to meet you. Of course if you wish to come with us.”

 

Corvo put off the sword from Piero’s neck and looked at both men, indeed they weren’t Watchmen, yet he couldn’t really trust them so blindly. But he was really tired, he cleaned the sweat off his brow and looked at both of them. Before he could asked them something he heard some voices coming from the spillway and some barks, the hounds must had find his trace. Corvo cursed softly in Serkonan and turned to look at the two men.

 

“Let’s go, the City Watch is coming,” he said as he bypass the man name Piero.

 

“The City Watch?” said Piero in a high tone of voice.

 

“Yes,” said Corvo and looked at Samuel. “How are we getting away?”

 

“This way sir, we are going through the river,” said Samuel then he turned and looked at Piero. “Piero come on! The Watch is behind us!”

 

But the man didn’t move. “Maybe he wants to be capture and tortured by the Watch,” said Corvo thing that made Piero ran toward them and pass them.

 

As they reached the boat Corvo fell into his knees, both men looked at him. “Are you alright sir?” asked Samuel getting up from the boat, Piero simply leaned forward.

 

Corvo rose slowly grabbing his left side. “I’m fine, let’s go,” he said and breathed heavily as he sat down in the boat. “Is there a doctor with these people?”

 

“I’m the doctor, I guess,” said Piero as the boat began to move and gain speed. “Well I’m a natural philosopher.”

 

“That’s good enough,” said Corvo as he looked how some more lamps had appeared in the beach they had been just minutes ago and soon began to disappear as the boat made a turn and disappear into the Wrenhaven River.

 

Corvo cleaned the sweat that had appeared again in his brow, he was so tired and his whole body trembled in pain. The three men remain in silence until they reach a bridge, the boatman drive into one of the arcs and stopped the boat. Corvo looked up and saw how the man turned off also the lamps.

 

“Why are we stopping?” he asked as he instinctively grabbed the handle of the sword. “Weren’t you going to take me to meet some good people?”

 

“Yes sir,” said Samuel. “But there is a patrol up ahead, we just need to wait for them to pass and then we will continue.” Corvo nodded softly and frowned as he grabbed his left side.

 

Samuel looked at Piero, who had been looking at where the City Watch usually hide. Samuel kicked softly Piero and then moved his head pointing at Corvo. The other man looked at him in confusion, the sailor moved again his head but the natural philosopher simply blinked at him. Samuel rolled his eyes and shook his head.

 

“Corvo,” he said catching the attention of the Serkonan. “Would you mind showing your wounds to Piero, so once we reach the Hounds Pits Pub he would be able to treat you?”

 

Corvo gave a sigh and began to strip himself leaving his weapons next to him, Piero turned on one of the lamps just enough so he could actually see. The long coat fell heavily in the boat floor, then came the vest and what was left of the shirt. The bandages that cover his entire torso were completely wet and on both sides were cover in blood, his right side had a simple blood stain that had began to expand, but the left side had several blood stains that had been expanding and had dried the bandages into a bright red color. Corvo grabbed the sword and pulled out half of the blade, Piero and Samuel looked at him.

 

“Are there bandages where we are going?” asked Corvo looking at Piero.

 

“Yes,” answered the natural philosopher. Then Corvo did something that make both men gasp, he introduced the blade in between his torso and the bandages, he turned the edge of the blade toward the bandages and cut them in half. The bandages open but remain stick to his body, he began to peeled them off and frowned softly as he took the last one, revealing the wounds he was carrying.

 

“Good grief,” said Samuel as he looked at the wounds that the Serkonan had. Piero opened up his eyes and arranged his lens, then he leaned forward and moved the lamp closer to Corvo’s torso.

 

“I… I… I don’t believe it!” said Piero. “With those wounds you escape from Coldridge and get to us?” he asked Corvo.

 

Corvo looked at both Gristolans and simply nodded, then he wipe off the sweat from his brow. “You can threat them, can you?”

 

“Yes, of course, but I don’t have anything here, we will have to wait until we arrive to the Hounds Pit,” said Piero as he leaned even closer to Corvo’s wounds. “What did they do to you?”

 

“They burned me,” said Corvo as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he wasn’t really feeling good, and he was getting more nauseas by the minute, all he wanted was to lay down and rest.

 

“Turn off the lamp Piero, they are coming this way,” Samuel said.

 

Corvo felt how the light of the lamp died away and they remained in silence, surrounded by the darkness, he opened his eyes when he felt that the boat began to move again, he put on again the clothes, and looked around. He saw the patrol sailing to the opposite direction than them and somehow was relief. They remained in silence for the rest of the trip. 

 

Once they reached the dock of their destination Piero jumped off the boat, he turned and looked at both men that still remain in the boat.

 

“I will go and gather my things to treat those injuries Corvo, I will see you in your room,” he said and ran up the stairs and disappeared in the darkness.

 

“Are you sure we are in the right place?” asked Corvo, he looked around and saw several old buildings, none with lights on, there was no sight that there would be anyone nearby.

 

“Yes, sir, this is it, the Hounds Pit Pub,” said Samuel. “The Admiral say we can’t use the light, that it would give away our position, considering that we are suppose to be in a close district, and not only that, it could also attract weepers,” said the old sailor.

 

Corvo nodded and tried to get off the boat, the older man quickly help him, trying to avoid touching him where the wounds were. Corvo frowned softly and began to walk toward where Piero had ran.

 

“There are a couple of stairs ahead, this used to be the loading dock for the pub, so is below the street level,” said Samuel as they made their way toward the pub. “The Admiral is a good man and surely will be very pleasant to meet you Corvo, I mean, being able to escape with those wounds, I hardly think anyone could had done it.”

 

Corvo simply eyed Samuel, so there was at least a military man, well part of the navy. Royal navy, he guessed, he wondered if they had meet before, also what could really be the motives of this man of helping him out, surely it wasn’t charity and less trying to do the right thing. Probably Burrows didn’t gave him anything and the Admiral was mad because of that, since he knew that no man, rich or poor do anything for free in Dunwall. 

 

They reached the entrance of the pub. Corvo leaned against a wall and looked at the old sailor.

 

“I will go on my own from here, I don’t think it would be very, encouraging to see me entering with the help of someone,” he said, the old sailor nodded and began to walk away, Corvo looked at him one last time. “Samuel!” he called out loud making the old man turned around. “Thank you, for everything.”

 

“You are welcome sir, hope you get better,” said the old man smiling softly at Corvo.

 

Corvo took a deep breath and entered silently the pub. The pub didn’t look different to those that he had gone to, to those that he had visited with Jessamine before anything of that had happen. It had several tables all against the wall and a main area that had a bar and several drinking fountains. The whole area was in darkness with the exception of a corner of the bar in which two men were drinking. The light of the lamp didn’t give enough light for him to look at them with attention, but he could clearly see that one man was more heavy built than the other, also that one was drinking beer while the other seemed to be drinking whiskey in a glass. Corvo started moving forward in complete silence, he heard them talking in whispers, but he couldn’t make out clearly what they were talking about until he was a few meters away from them.

 

“Of course I had never killed a man, Admiral. I don’t think that killing them with my wits counts, at all,” said the man dress in grey suit.

 

“Then you do understand why we truly need him, Lord Pendleton,” said the man in a navy uniform. “I’m sure you had heard the stories regarding him.”

 

“And who haven’t?” said the lord. “But some of them, seem out of the wild… melting down in the shadows, I hardly think that any man could pass that unnoticed.”

 

“You are right my lord,” said Corvo from the shadows, he noticed how the nobleman jumped and the navy man looked at his direction with surprised. Corvo walked into the light. “Some of those stories are quite exaggerated.”


End file.
